Jen and I were good little fitness buffs last night and instead of going to the Sweet Tooth for a double scoop of something heavenly we went for a walk in the wilderness. High above Summerland we strolled, with the panoramic view of the lake by our sides. The path was quiet and the breeze was light. All of a sudden, Jen jumped at the sound of something slithering in the bushes to her right. She caught sight of a snake and squealed, "There’s a snake!" I didn’t see it and told her it was no big deal, there’s lots of snakes in the Okanagan and how we get them in the orchard. She calmed down and we continued our walk. After a while we turned back to head home and a few minutes into the last half of our journey, Jen froze, pointed her little finger ahead and said, "There’s the snake again!"
When she had first seen the snake I had imagined it as being a skinny little garter snake no more than a foot long. But what lay sprawled across our path was nothing of the sort. It was a thick, striped beast of a snake that was at least three feet long and it looked menacing.
I lost it.
And so did Jen.
We both screamed and clung to one another, certain that our deaths were looming. This snake was probably a rattler and was going to attack us. What were we to do??
After a few minutes of staring at the snake, seeing its forked tonge vibrate in and out of its scaley jaw, it began to slither into the bushes on the other side of the path.
"What do we do now?" Jen asked.
"We run."
"But what if it’s waiting to attack us and it’s attracted to our quick movements?" she pressed.
"I don’t care. I’m running." And with that I gathered up my belly in my arms and darted down the path, Jen following close behind.
Lessons learned: Walking in the wildnerness simply is not safe.
From now on we stick to the Sweet Tooth.
11 Comments
Hey – you need to be safe. And the Sweet Tooth sounds like one of the safest options. Never mind all those yummy treats…
Haha… It was probably just a king snake, they are non-venomous, striped, and around 3-5 feet long. I work in a zoo in Az, and we catch them in our exhibits all the time, and just let em go in the bushes. They eat small rodents, lizards and even small rattle snakes… so they are good to have around. They are also shy, and wont attack just for the heck of it. But I would have ran too, if I were you…
I think I would have froze and had a coronary right then and there. But I would have liked to have seen all 37 ? weeks pregnant of you running away from a snake! And I don’t say that to be nasty or make fun of you, but since you did make it out safely, it probably would have been quite a sight! And Angella’s right, there’s no harm in getting ice cream!
That just teaches you a lesson. Never choose exercise over being lazy enjoying ice cream.
I think I’ll learn from your mistake. Whew….
While I was pretty scared, I actually had fun watching you run for your life. ;)
I am glad that we didn’t encounter that beast when we walked up there with you guys.
That anonymous comment was obviously me. Forgot to fill in my info. Oops.
I think it was a sign… Definitely a good reason to avoid exercise and embrace food!!! :)
nobody ever got bitten by a snake sitting home eating cake.
haha…that’s quite a humorous picture that your words formed in my mind.
I’m glad all three of you got away safely. :)
Good choice. They say that walking in the wilderness won’t kill ya, but why take the chance. Take the safe route. Oh my goodness. If I saw that snake I would have lost it. Glad to hear you are okay.
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