On Saturday, I was in my yard with Ty, and we'd just finished picking up sticks. Beside me, a snake fell from the tree onto the driveway.
It dropped. From high. I watched it fall. Right next to me.
A SNAKE FELL FROM THE TREE.
I'm not scared of snakes. They don't creep me out like, for instance, bats do. In fact, I once found a snake in my laundry room and I was just annoyed. (Note - snakes have never flown into my house and circled my head like some bats. I would no doubt have a different view if this happened.) In Michigan, we have a lot of garter snakes around, and they are small and harmless. I kind of like them.
Yet! I'd never seen one fall from a tree.
I ran to get the other two boys and the three of us stood and looked at it. Its head was bloody, like its eye had exploded during the fall.
I was sure it was dead. It looked dead.
DEAD SNAKES FALLING FROM TREES.
We wondered whether a bird had dropped it, but we didn't hear any bird up there when it happened. Max poked at it with a stick and it sort of moved, so I suggested we leave it alone to die in peace.
We continued to work in the yard, and then Cole called to me.
"The snake isn't dead. It's moving!" he said.
"It's alive?!" I said, amazed.
We watched as it slithered through the grass, and winced as it continued hitting its congealed, bloody head on grass. It kept sticking to it. It would pull away, put its head higher, and move on. It opened and shut its mouth wide many times. It looked like it was in pain, but as it moved, it got stronger and stronger.
LIVE SNAKES FALLING FROM TREES.
"Where is it going?" Cole said. "Why doesn't it avoid the grass? Why was it in the tree?"
We both lamented the fact he didn't speak Slytherin.
We watched, fascinated, as the snake moved back in the yard ... and started climbing the same tree.
SNAKES CLIMBING TREES.
I googled 'snakes climbing trees'. Sure enough, lots of people had videos of this amazing physical feat.
The snake climbed about halfway up, with us cheering it on, and then hung out on the tree trunk. We checked back on it over the rest of the night, and the next morning it was gone. No doubt to wait in the tree for us.
Again, I'm not afraid of snakes, and I'm glad. Because live ones are falling from trees in my yard. On the farming side, the snake harvest is going really well this year.
Want to know more about the farm? Like the page on Facebook, on Twitter @carlashelley, or sign up to get the blog by email - the form is on the right side of the page.
