All right, I don’t normally put that first adjective in front of snake, but this was an exception. I was walking along, taking care of business, headed to the mailbox to see what kind of junk mail we got today. I was paying so little attention that I almost stepped on her (or him – didn’t cozy up close enough to tell).
I had recently listened to an NPR program on snakes so I knew what to do. I took two steps backward and moved in a wide arc around her. I did one more thing that I didn’t learn on NPR. I took out my phone and got a picture!
Of course, one has to wonder about the safety of a snake who is crossing the road. This one is at the end of a country road, Windwood Trace, with only six cars normally beyond this point. Four were safely parked in their yards, one was out for the workday, and the other showed up as I was observing the snake. She gave it a wide berth in her car before stopping and taking her own phone picture! Like me, she thought the snake was cute flicking her head up and down and sticking her tongue out. There was no sign of the snake the next morning, squished or otherwise, so I am assuming she made her way to greener grass on the other side of the road.
When I got home, I had to find out about the snake which I had never seen before and is the first snake I have ever called “cute.” Turns out they live in trees and shrubs which is why we never see them. Kermit the Frog said it’s not easy being green, but it seems to work for these snakes as camouflage. They don’t like to bite humans but will catch small insects, spiders, etc. and swallow them whole.
Being myself, I didn’t leave the snake with just scientific information but put her into a children’s song I taught my kindergarteners.
There’s a little green snake nowhere near the water,
A little green snake doing what she ought-er.
She flicked her tongue and then she sped
Across the road to a new grass bed.
Most fun I’ve ever had with a snake – and she was cute!