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Pastimes : NNBM - SI Branch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Clappy who wrote (36889)	10/27/2004 7:18:10 PM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104159

Snakes scare me. I'm like a little sissy when I see one. Even in the back yard trimming hedges or whacking the weeds. When they surprise me, I run/hop away screaming (sorta) like a little school girl until I come to my senses. lol... well, you're certainly not alone in feeling that way. I meet plenty of people who react much that way to snakes, spiders, snapping turtles, centipedes and the like. Why, years ago, Mr. Croc would even jump at the unexpected sight of a snake. But he's all over that now... I've finally got him broken in so that he doesn't twitch so much as an eyelash at the sight of a snake. Snake story for you if you don't mind hearing about snakes -- don't read on if you do. A couple of years ago, I took a new friend out for a canoe trip along a historic old canal which is not in use these days. The banks are covered with heavy vegetation -- vines, bushes and the like. Well, we're paddling along and I spot a large watersnake zipping along ahead of us -- like it's in a big hurry to get somewhere. I say, "Let's follow that snake and see where it's headed." My friend nods her head and we up our paddling speed and start following this snake upriver. Pretty soon, we see another snake going in the same direction -- same determined speed like it's on its way somewhere. In a little while, we arrive at a small tree that is bending over the river, with its lower branches hanging down in the water. The snakes arrive at the tree and start slithering up the branches that meet the water. We approach and paddle in part of the way under the tree, and then we notice that the tree is literally crawling with snakes --- all watersnakes in sizes from about a foot long to ones that were an easy 4 feet or so long.. big chubby ones as big around as my wrists. One big pair is coiled together up on a level area on a branch and they are mating. Other snakes are are slithering back and forth over the pair. A few of the snakes are looped from branches and a couple of them are hanging by their tails swinging slowly back and forth. This kind of gathering is what is referred to as an aggregation. Well, we're floating in the canoe, and I've got my DVcamcorder out and I'm shooting footage.. and I suddenly start thinking, "Boy, I hope my new friend doesn't mind snakes too much cuz these snakes are rather...uhm... intimidating (even to me)." Also, she had only been in a canoe a couple of times before, so I was also thinking that I wouldn't want the canoe to tip if anything happened and she got a bit of a scare. I ask her if she's okay, and she says, "Yep, no problem". Turns out that she's done tropical forestry in Costa Rica, etc.. so she's used to snakes hanging in trees and the like. It was pretty neat -- a little freaky at times because there were more snakes arriving by the minute and some seemed a little aggressive and would come up alongside the canoe and seem like they might try to slide up the paddles and so on. Best part was that there were several smaller snakes -- the ones hanging by their tails.. and they would swing back and forth and finally bend and flip off into the water -- and make a big bellyflop splash as they hit. Looked like they were having great fun. We stayed around for about 15 minutes, then paddled on upriver. On the way back, we stopped at the tree and there were even more snakes in it by this time... probably about 30-40 or so. Pretty neat... unless you don't like snakes. (o: -croc