ick

i saw this guy on my training loop at the 'wood saturday. it's a copper head snake. going backward up grotpeter, i was stopped dead in my tracks by him. he was coiled up, so naturally i mistook him for a pile of dog poop. as i came closer, i realized i was looking at a rather mean looking critter, all coiled up and looking right at me from ground level. i stopped, rolled backward, and got off my bike. he was about three feet long, i thought.

hmm. i need to finish my ride, i thought. so, i threw a couple of rocks at mr. copper head. he just uncoiled and lay across the trail, as if to sun himself. not good, i thought. i'm not riding over him. i threw more rocks, which pissed him off, so he coiled again. it's amazing how hard it is to hit a snake with a rock. who'da thunk it?

along came a guy i race with. he thought i had fallen and hurt myself. no, you just rolled over a snake that i'm scared of, i told him. oh. he grabbed a stick and flung mr. copper head off of the trail. i thanked him and we parted ways. i'm hoping he didn't tell the world what a bufoon i looked like, standing there, pitching rocks at a gardner snake and running like a school girl.

i finished my ride without seeing anymore venomous reptiles.