Yesterday my wife and I were on our way into town. It was a beautiful morning so we drove with the windows rolled down, enjoying the fresh air. Out ahead on the county road I saw several buzzards that appeared to be feasting on some road kill.
As we got closer the birds didn’t show any signs of moving so I slowed down. We were about on top of those buzzards whey they took flight. One of the scavengers had a long snake dangling from its beak.
The bird carrying the snake barely cleared the truck but his meal did not. The snake hit just above and to the front of the passenger window. The buzzard lost his grip and the snake came through the open window and landed in my wife’s lap.
Next thing I hear is my wife screaming bloody murder and trying to exit the cab through my door. She’s crawling across me; I can’t steer and can’t see out the windshield. Fortunately for us, this is not a well-traveled road and we weren’t moving very fast. I applied the brakes and came to a stop in the middle of the road.
I got out of the truck with my wife right on my tail. She was literally shaking. I calmed her down and made sure she hadn’t been bitten. I then went around and opened the passenger door. There on the floorboard was a four-foot long cottonmouth. I picked up the dead snake and threw it to the side of the road for the next lucky buzzard.
When my wife was finally able to summon up the courage and get back into the truck, we headed to the house where she could change clothes and shower off what she called the ‘snake slime’. An hour later we were headed back to town, this time in the car with the windows rolled up.
My wife is a little shook up about it still today. Truth be told, I was shook up about it when it happened. I didn’t know if that snake was alive or dead.
As we got closer the birds didn’t show any signs of moving so I slowed down. We were about on top of those buzzards whey they took flight. One of the scavengers had a long snake dangling from its beak.
The bird carrying the snake barely cleared the truck but his meal did not. The snake hit just above and to the front of the passenger window. The buzzard lost his grip and the snake came through the open window and landed in my wife’s lap.
Next thing I hear is my wife screaming bloody murder and trying to exit the cab through my door. She’s crawling across me; I can’t steer and can’t see out the windshield. Fortunately for us, this is not a well-traveled road and we weren’t moving very fast. I applied the brakes and came to a stop in the middle of the road.
I got out of the truck with my wife right on my tail. She was literally shaking. I calmed her down and made sure she hadn’t been bitten. I then went around and opened the passenger door. There on the floorboard was a four-foot long cottonmouth. I picked up the dead snake and threw it to the side of the road for the next lucky buzzard.
When my wife was finally able to summon up the courage and get back into the truck, we headed to the house where she could change clothes and shower off what she called the ‘snake slime’. An hour later we were headed back to town, this time in the car with the windows rolled up.
My wife is a little shook up about it still today. Truth be told, I was shook up about it when it happened. I didn’t know if that snake was alive or dead.
