I have come up on two rattlers in the Hill Country, both when I used to hunt doves in my 20s. Both times on railroad trestles. The first time I was so shocked and terrified I fired without thinking, kicking blood and shotgun shrapnel all over my shins. The second time I almost stepped on them before the rattle made me freeze. I gingerly backed off, took a long circuitous route around, shouldered my gun and gave them a "Namaste." When I walked back at sundown they were gone. There's probably a lesson in there, maybe a profound metaphor, we may never know.
I once called for the execution of a six-foot rattler that was by my back door. Only after his violent death did I realize—he had been prone, not curled and rattling, just trying to digest the rat in his stomach. If I had been thinking more clearly I would have had him moved, not shot. But it was my first such encounter and I very much panicked. I thought about that snake while I was telepathing with this more recent one. He made me very, very nervous but I kept telling myself he’s just trying to survive, too. MFN.
You articulated what I felt, and still feel. Their venom isn't made for us. The first one would have struck out of shock and terror without thinking, if I hadn't struck first.
Snakes are out there because they have to feed on animals to survive. We don't any more. After seeing that, I sold my guns and switched to eating plants. They can't. So I stopped tramping around their market place. Respect.
I have come up on two rattlers in the Hill Country, both when I used to hunt doves in my 20s. Both times on railroad trestles. The first time I was so shocked and terrified I fired without thinking, kicking blood and shotgun shrapnel all over my shins. The second time I almost stepped on them before the rattle made me freeze. I gingerly backed off, took a long circuitous route around, shouldered my gun and gave them a "Namaste." When I walked back at sundown they were gone. There's probably a lesson in there, maybe a profound metaphor, we may never know.
I once called for the execution of a six-foot rattler that was by my back door. Only after his violent death did I realize—he had been prone, not curled and rattling, just trying to digest the rat in his stomach. If I had been thinking more clearly I would have had him moved, not shot. But it was my first such encounter and I very much panicked. I thought about that snake while I was telepathing with this more recent one. He made me very, very nervous but I kept telling myself he’s just trying to survive, too. MFN.
You articulated what I felt, and still feel. Their venom isn't made for us. The first one would have struck out of shock and terror without thinking, if I hadn't struck first.
Snakes are out there because they have to feed on animals to survive. We don't any more. After seeing that, I sold my guns and switched to eating plants. They can't. So I stopped tramping around their market place. Respect.