Nick, Melinda and I went birding/fishing on the Snake River at Massacre Rocks on Saturday. There were Grebes, Coots, Ducks of all kinds, Pelicans, a Great Blue Heron, swimming Pronghorns, and even a Mountain Lion. We’re looking out over the water at enjoying the voyage when Nick asks, “Is that a Snake?”
I had no idea what he was looking at. He turned the boat and headed in the direction of his curiosity. Sure enough there was a squiggly line moving in s shapes across the water. It was moving fast and as the boat approached it headed right for us and then lifted out of the water looking like he was trying to get in. Nick moved the boat and we evaded the snake. Why was the snake in the middle of the Snake River? I don’t know. While I wasn’t exactly sure which variety of snake it was, I knew it wasn’t one of the poisonous ones. We really only have rattlers, and this wasn’t one of those. Turns out we found a gopher snake.
We watched the snake. It stopped moving forward in the water and seemed stall out. He stopped and hung in the water. Snakes are cold blooded, the water was very frigid, it looked to us like he was hanging out to be food for birds of prey. I teased Nick about using his fishing net to help the snake out. Next thing we know, Nick is fishing the snake out of the river. Then he has to untangle the snake from the net. Remember, he’s the one driving the boat and now he has his hands full of snake.
I end up driving for a while, the problem is that the river is full of shifting sand bars and Nick has all of these cool gadgets that he monitors to find a clear path. I eventually decided I’d rather hold the snake than continue to drive the boat. It would be faster too. So I ended up holding on to the snake. The snake had a real preference for Nick. He had taken off his shirt and was quite warm. I was wearing a silk shirt and was not quite so warm. Nick said that when he pulled the snake from the river it was very cold. It also didn’t move much. As it warmed up it definitely got a little friskier.
I was very, very happy when Nick beached his boat and let the snake out off the front of the boat. That was one fast moving snake as it slithered it’s way up the rocky beach and out past the brush as fast as it could. It was also one lucky snake. The tally of rescued animals is now 1 kitten, bunches of dogs, and 1 snake.
After later,
Jenny
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