Snakes On A Trail

On the last three rides I took I have seen five snakes. And one weasel. It must be snake season or something. They are probably out catching the last bits of warmth before the cold hits. I almost squashed three of them, but I was able to stop the bike just in time.

It is actually kind of amazing that I even saw the snakes. Usually when I see a snake here in Korea it looks like this ...

Unfortunately I see a lot of squashed snakes.

This is one of the green ones. So far I have only seen a green and a brown variety. The live ones I saw recently were three greens and two browns. The greens only get up to about 60 cm or so, but one of the brown ones was at least a full meter or more.

Here is a better shot of what the green ones look like.

This one wasn't alive either, though. I found it at the start of spring when there is a lot of spraying going on. Perhaps it went through some sprayed fields or ate a poisoned mouse or something. When I found it it was newly dead.

I haven't been able to catch a live one. They are just too fast, and the grass is too tall.

Until now!

I saw this little guy, today- the 6th, in the middle of the road and hopped off my bike. I chased him back and forth across the road a little while, to build up my courage and tire him out. Eventually I grabbed his tail and held it up so I could keep him from going anywhere and then get a better chance to grab his head.

When I first made a grab for his head, he actually bit me. He doesn't have any fangs and his head was at a bad angle for the bite, so he couldn't hold on to my finger. But it sure scared the shit out of me. Eventually I was able to pin his head down and pick him up. Finally I caught one!

It was quite a chore to pull the camera out of my waist bag, take off the lens cap, zoom, and frame the picture all with one hand. I tried to get a picture with his tongue flicking out, but it was just too fast. By the time I saw his tongue and pressed the shutter, it was already back inside.

After a lot of pictures I thanked him and set him on the side of the road to which he was originally heading. Too many snakes here end up squashed, beaten, or in bottles of alcohol. I am glad I could help get this one off the road and on his way. One more close-up of his head.

I like how his eye color fits in with the color on his skin. If you happen to see a snake, please don't kill it.