I hate Snakes!!

As a disclaimer before I tell this story, although I HATE snakes I would never kill one that did not present a threat. I also didn't take this picture. I got it from www.thies-times.com

So, yesterday I was driving on base to the commissary as I do many Saturday evenings, and I saw this thin black strip of plastic blowing in the breeze across the lane. It made sense because there is a lot of construction in the area and over the weekends loose pieces of litter often get caught up in the wind. But then as I got to be about 4 feet from this piece of trash it no longer was a piece of trash but a 3foot long skinny black snake that I could not avoid running over, and in my rear view mirror I saw it thrashing as I went on. I have been driving for 17 years now and this was the first time I have ever run over anything. Not a squirrel, not anything, so I was really distressed. I called Johannes as soon as I got to the commissary (I was able to get out of my car without being crippled by fear because I had seen the snake be left behind and I didn't have to imagine him caught up under my car waiting to get me). The funny thing was that he was less shocked by the fact the A. there was a snake taking a leisurely slither across the base or B. that I ran over an animal, but that I was surprised it was a snake. I was taken aback by this until he pointed out that I am the one in our family that ALWAYS see a snake first. I am so afraid of them that I constantly have my eyes peeled for a potential snake. I found a smashed snake on the street in our neighborhood in Turkey (it was only about 4 inches long) and 2 weeks ago I found another smashed snake out on the gravel path at the lake (about 6 inches). Anytime we go on a nature walk I always see the snake hanging from a branch or curled up in a rotting log. Why I would think that there was a 3 foot long piece of plastic slithering across the road was absurd as far as Johannes was concerned.

He just walked behind me and commented on the length of my ramblings, but I have to get this off my chest or I will have nightmares about snakes for weeks. So, I submit a formal apology to all snakes for running over their buddy, and hope to purge the guilt from my conscience for killing a predator species important for keeping down the rodent population in my neighborhood.