Snake alive!

My late afternoon visit to the garden cage was to be routine: check the plants need for water. With an ambient temperature index close to 100 degrees that was prudent to do.

Something more pressing intervened: at ground level a snake had become entangled in the bird netting that is draped around the entire perimeter. It keeps the rabbits and varmints out.

Last year this happened once too, but this years’ version was more serious: the snake managed to both get mesh inside its mouth – forcing it to remain open – and constrict a strand around its neck.

The serpent appeared doomed as ants sensed as well, swarming over it. It was a gruesome sight.

My options were limited. I could walk away and come back tomorrow to remove the carcass or make an attempt to surgically cut the offending threads hoping it would survive to slither away unhindered.

Believing I was this snake’s only hope for life I quickly went inside and got a scissor. I also looked at a picture guide and identified it as a Prairie King about an inch in diameter and a couple of feet long.

With a twig in my left hand I gently kept prodding so I could snip threads with my right without it turning on me; although non-venomous it could bite.

This was slow going as the animal was tenaciously alive, twisting at each easy nudge. It couldn’t know it was hindering being saved.

Eventually I got down to the last garrote-like filament. At that point I almost gave up because it was so tight there wasn’t enough space for the scissor.

Then I remembered that I had a razor blade tool used to cut drywall. The exposed tip of the blade – if gingerly inserted and quickly flicked – might safely break that last barrier to freedom. A quick run to the tool box and I had it. After three tries it worked!

The Prairie King collected itself and slowly went to hide and rest under nearby grass clippings. I gave it a hopeful send-off with a dousing of clean water from a jug I keep inside the cage.

Clint Pustejovsky provides the following sentiment in his Snakes of South Texas Guide that I use:

“ STOP

Don’t Kill That Snake

Despite playing important roles as both predators and prey, snakes remain highly misunderstood vertebrates.

Only five venomous species occur in South Texas and these snakes present little danger when left alone.

These venomous animals benefit humans with medications, antivenom & rodent control. Snakes are fascinating creatures that can be safely enjoyed from a distance.”