Off with his Head!
It has been a strange week, what with the escaped convict and all. I'm guessing he ran down this road, County Road 12, or maybe CR 10 one mile to the south. If he did go down this road the view would not have been so scenic as he was traveling at night. Last Sunday night, to be specific. And he probably ran through the field or down the borrow ditch to avoid leaving tracks. Nonetheless, we were greeted first thing Monday morning, by two jumpy, yet very polite officers, who proceeded to search all of our outbuildings with their guns drawn, in full tactical synchronicity. Let me assure you, this is an alarming sight.
Finally, on Wednesday, we received another reverse 911 call notifying us that he was in custody, and I was surprised at the relief I felt. I hadn't realized how cautious and surveillant I had been for two and a half days. I put the keys back in the vehicles, and unlocked the windows and doors.
Later that afternoon, as I was warming up for my workout with a run down the driveway, I pass a rattlesnake at the edge of the yard, and the adrenaline and fear come racing back. To be clear, I don't have a problem with snakes, in fact I rather like them. Often I will stop the car to shoo them off the road. Sometimes I catch bull snakes just to hold them and feel their fierce sinewy power, but I draw the line at rattlers in the yard. And since I don't trust my snake catching skills with rattlers, I lopped his head off.
Even with the head cleanly removed, the body continues to writhe and coil for a good fifteen minutes. It is disturbing to watch, partly because it is moving at all, but largely because of how it moves. It doesn't flail as if in pain, it just holds its ground, moving calmly, and deliberately. Blind and headless, animated by some strange primeval instinct.
There is an old wive's tale that if you bury a dead snake belly-up you will get rain. I fully intended to do this as it has been really hot and dry for over two weeks now, but I waited too long. Some animal ate him in the night, leaving a little pile of bones and inside-out skin at the edge of the driveway.
Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 07:49PM
Reader Comments (2)
That's a good looking dead snake. Hoe? Chinese star?
May I ask what you lopped his head off with? It looks like a pretty big rattler!