Sam the snake

We were driving down my mother in laws street when I shrieked. In fact, the voice that came out of me was one I had never heard before. Why did I squeal in horror? There happened to be a SIX FOOT SNAKE walking across the road.

I have never seen a snake that large before in my life. I don't count the ones I see behind glass at the zoo. This thing was slithering and S'ing across the road.

Both of the kids were sitting in their car seats and perked up to see what mom was screaming at. I asked my mother in law, What Do We DO! Do we kill it! What is it!

She said it was probably a water moccasin and I dove down into my memory banks and remembered there are only 4 poisonous snakes in Texas (compared to the over 50 in Miami). Water moccasins, Copperheads (Cotton Mouths), Rattlesnakes, and Coral Snakes.

I asked sheepishly, do we kill it? She said, we have to. So, we began to inch slowly forward in her luxury SUV. I buried my head in my hands and couldn't look. I felt the tires go "bump, bump" and my eyes started tearing up. I loudly asked, "Is it dead?!?!?!" as I looked in the passengers sideview mirror. All I saw was a snake writhing about in pain and flopping from side to side. I screamed again.

I yelled out, hit it again, hit it again! It's in pain!!!!! Images of the snakes family flew into my mind. What if this snake was just out shopping for dinner so it could feed it's little snake family. It had looked both ways before it crossed the road but it didn't expect that my kids would want to go to the park at that very moment. Maybe it was a teenage snake out for it's first adventure without mommy and daddy snake. It was told to be home before dark and he lovingly wrapped it's tail around mom and said, don't worry mommy, I'll be home soon.

Bump, bump! We hit it again. I looked..still writhing. We hit it again. ...then again. Then one final time. Finally it stopped moving.

We drove off to the park and I tried to tell myself that it was for the best. It would have killed either of my children had they encountered it. Survival of the fittest. We had an SUV, it had thin skin.

When we came back from the park, it was still in the road, but it had moved off to the side. Meaning it slithered slowly in pain until it reached it's final death location. I got out of the car and took a picture of it because I wanted to look it up when I got home.

I cried the instant the picture came up on Google. It in fact was not a water moccasin. It as a Rat Snake. Completely harmless (except to rats). We killed a friend to nature and I will have trouble sleeping tonight. It meant us no harm and only wanted to cross the road.

RIP Snakey.

(the rest of it's body was severed by the car and in the middle of the road)