A little Brown Snake
On New Years Day, while looking for a lost Dog off in the Middle Prong Wilderness I stepped across a snake. It was 12 degrees when I left my corner of the world that morning, it was cold all day. I had climbed up frozen ground to get up in there. But, that snake somehow got thawed out enough to crawl around a little. It was just a little brown snake, maybe a foot long or a little longer. The sun shined brightly through a little opening in the trees and as I looked down to make sure of my footing, I saw it's brown scales slide on the leaves out from some spriggs of Doghobble(1). I stepped over it and looked back to see that little snake slid up to the base of a tree trunk. There it was, a little brown snake in the dead of Winter.
It was the last day of Bear Season here in Western North Carolina. Middle Prong is Bear Sanctuary. They're off limits there. The man's Dog had gone off in there the day before and that country is so rough waiting for one to come out is the most feasible option. Me and another boy had walked off in there and I tracked her close to me at one time. We didn't find her though. The higher we climbed around that steep slope the further she seemed. We were worried she was hurt. Later that day she was standing on the road. She was fine, just hungry. It's like she had just enjoyed a little time to her self.
Some things find the sun, some things come out of the Wilderness in their own time.
The Appalachianist
posted by Hill Billy Rave | Saturday, January 03, 2009
17 Comments:
We all need a little time for ourselves! I learned as a kid that when it'd been a warm morning and a cold front came through and the temp dropped, it was the best time to catch snakes as they're out and moving slowly!
I enjoyed the story very much, what kind of "little brown snake" was it? Was it a copperhead? Was it a rattlesnake? Well, it was a slooowmooovintoocoldtoooobitesnake. Is runnun' down the mountain easier than runnin' up the mountain . . . for a snake that is . . . and, of course, run the opposite way. Iknow . . . it's too early in the new year . . . I had a friend bitten by a huge rattlesnake out Leesburg near the National Guard Center . . . by the time they got him to Moncrief his arm was so swollen into his BDU jacket the jacket had to be cut off of him. He used every vial of antiserum Moncrief had. He survived, but he ain't the same. This comment is so unlike the poetry of the original post . . . " . . . a little brown snake in the dead of winter" metaphor for life and what is coming this winter . . . it is going to get colder, and I hope he can find a place to hold over. Bill
Sage, I didn't imagine it was moving to quick, after looking back for a second, I got going back down the mountain. We had a couple of warm days before hand, but then it was cold that day.
Bill, I'm not up on my snakes that well. It was what I've always called a Brown Snake. I've never seen them much bigger than that one.
I've never managed to see a snake back there around Leesburg. Oh, you know they're there. But, I've stayed clear of them.
Global warming, that can be the only explanation for that snake. :-)
Yeah Gunner, that's the reason it was around 500ft too. It knows those ice caps are going to keep melting and it needs higher ground.
The sun shined a little bright in there, It caught a god southern exposure. And, we had a warm day or two the day before. But, there was no question it was cold that day.
Make that 5000 feet, Gunner.
For you map fans, between Sam's Knob and Green Knob on the Green Knob side, just south of Green Knob.
Spent the past week in warm and sunny Florida...and when I hit northern South Carolina (about a half hour outside of the NC border) I had to put on socks and shoes and a sweater again after I gassed up. I don't miss living in FL too often, but feeling the temp. change as I travelled back home made me miss the spring like winter's they have down there.
Speaking of wildlife, I kayaked with some dolphins and manatees...and knowing Florida, probably some gators although I am really glad they decided to play least in site. They are a bit more fun to look at from a distance.
Glad you had a good holiday and be careful of the early rising snakes when you are out and about next : )
Hurumphf . . . or whatever . . . humbug . . . dolphins and manatees . . . ummmmmmm, you can't kayak with manatees and dolphins unless it's . . . can I say it . . . warm . . . yes, it must have been warm . . . if App had looked more closely at the little brown snake it was holding up a sign saying "Please take me to Florida." Just guessin' . . . and at 5,000 feet . . . yeah, it's cold or going to get cold soon. ;>) Bill
Gosh, Pipsqeak, Dolphins and Manatees, possibility even Alligators makes you sound like a modern day lady version of William Bartram.
I've had some cold nights on the Florida Panhandle. Don't know where you were at, but, I guess not the panhandle. I don't believe Manatees hang out there.
Bill, it was cold at 5000 feet. Boy, you are in a cut up mood.
Bill - haha, little brown snake can find his own way to sunny, warm FL...or do like the rest of his brothers and find a nice warm hole to curl up in until it gets warm like any respectable reptile would do.
App - the grandparents are far enough south that its generally warm most days, but I just moved from Gainesville (northern Florida)this past summer and it certainly got cold there...though cold is all a matter of perspective, certainly wasn't as cold as a NC mountain at 5,000 ft. in the middle of winter ; )
Pip, it was actually one of those mornings when the cold air settled down lower. My house sits at about 2800 foot, where it was down around 10-15. It was around 25 up there. It might have been about 40 or so when I saw the snake.
App, I didn't mean to break into a conversation . . . meant no harm, but your comments on the differences in temperature at different elevation made me think of Mount Ranier near Fort Lewis. In the thirty days I was there for BRM I dressed correctly about three times. You had to go layered in clothing because you never knew what to expect. It would be warm at 7 o'clock in the morning and very cold by 10 that same morning . . . the cold air coming down from the mountain and the cold glacier of it. I thought what the dolphin and manatee and the little brown snake have in common. They are all being harrassed by humans to the breaking point. It is good to hear stories from people who care . . . I was talking to my daughter at lunch about the snake and how I knew people who would still be on top of the mountain shooting at it . . . they had the snake or their foot attitude . . . had no use for snakes . . . let'em live. Bill
Oh, I know Bill, I've been out there. Janie can testify for Washington State for us. Being she lives there. As well, I've been on top of the Balsams in late June with the it cold and windy and hurting my ears. To heck with global warming and this end of times talk. That's people bending things for their own agenda. Odd weather is nothing new.
Speaking of Janie.... ( :
we are have flooding, winds are bringing down trees, phone/electric lines etc...and of course Mother Nature's "Non-Controlled" avalanche(versus dynamite) was this afternoon up in one of the passes... But it was 50 degrees at my house and that darn Seattle snow misery is a memory. It better stay that way. I grew up in the Chicago area...and when I came to this city, I wore shorts year round...still haven't gotten out of the habit!
Janie, did you wear shorts when it snowed?
I got a kick out of how the women up there would be in jeans and jackets when it was cloudy, then go inside a store for a little while, come back out with the sun shining and their in tank tops, shorts and sandles. The ladies of the Northwest are damn versatile.
Yes on the shorts and snow. Its the matter of principle! With my boots and coat on - shoveled the patio. The tendency is to shed coverings when the sun shows up.
~janie
My husband and I used to hike Middle Prong back in the day-was a pretty popular place back then. Thanks for reminding me. Liked the post!
Post a Comment
<< Home