Bear and I have some good friends here in PA. Cris and Jake are another single mom/7 year old duo. Cris and Jake aren’t as active as Bear and I and would like to be, I thought we’d take them on a ride on a country road.
I rode my Muni, the rest on mountain bikes. Jake is just up on a two wheeler without training wheels recently. He’s still getting the hang of starting himself without a parental push.
After a nice lazy ride on the dirt road weaving around potholes (which are filled with mud and occupied by “coupled” toads), rocks, and the occasional stick, we hit a nice long downhill grade and Bear, confident on his bike as ever, races ahead about 20 meters. From my perspective, there is a long straight stick in the road, stretching easily half way across the road, Bear rides over it and UP it jumps at Bear! As high as Bear’s shoulder. But Bear, realizing that this is no stick, races past the snake.
Meanwhile Jake, rapidly approaching the injured animal (which is now coiled tightly, mouth agape and ready to strike in the middle of the road), falls off his bike so to stop rapidly. Cris and I are there in an instant. Jake is about 10 feet from the snake. I go slowly and reach for Jake, bringing him away from the snake.
Bear is in a dead panic isolated at the other side of the road. He later reports that his legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand. I can’t see the shape of the snake’s head well enough to determine if it is venomous. Being unfamiliar with the local fauna, I am inclined to assume it is poisonous and either wait or walk around through the woods. Jake is just about paralyzed with fear. Cris lets curiosity get the best of her and begins approaching the still coiled and open-mouthed animal with a stick.
Falling short of calling her stupid, I remind her that snakes are fast and this one can jump. She backed off, but did get a good look at the animal’s head which enabled later identification.
We begin to make our way through the woods. Poor Bear didn’t hear our plan and thinks we are abandoning him. He lets out a scream as we dissapear from view, but at the same time the snake decided that we were no longer a threat and headed the other way out of sight. Whew.
Bear got a big hug, a large helping of ice cream, and a good story that no one will believe to bring to school on Tuesday!
It turned out to be a Black Rat Snake, a common nonvenomous constrictor.
I hope Jake and Cris, city dwellers, come out with us again. It was a bit more adventure than any of us bargained for!
