Friday, July 10, 2009

Snake!

I was looking at an assortment of old pictures stored in a cardboard box when I saw one of me taken by a buddy years ago when we were fishing at a lake in San Bernardino National Forest. He took the time to take this photo with a film-based Canon slr before he told me of the snake emerging slowly from a cave-like structure a few feet away!

We have been camping, hiking and fishing together for years and both of us do not have an unhealthy fear of snakes and other animals we encounter in the field, but I still did not appreciate the fact that he took his time to get the camera and took my picture before alerting me to the snake LOL. He instantly knew at first sight that it was a non-poisonous snake and I did, too, after I saw the snake but still........grrrrrr. If it were a rattlesnake, I would have taken off with my van and let him walk all the way to civilization, notwithstanding the fact that we both know that snakes do not act aggressively unless they felt threaten or their protected space is intruded upon.

12 comments:

Reena said...

hehehe...the photo gives me the creeps! san po ba kayo nagwork dati?

RJ said...

[Wow! Nagpakita na rin, sa wakas, si Tito BertN!]

Good you knew that it was non-poisonous! Ako hindi ko talaga kilala poisonous at hindi...

In Australia, napakarami rin pong poisonous snakes, nangunguna ang brown snake which is very common here in my workplace. Since I cannot identify a poisonous from a non-poisonous snake, i just consider all of them as poisonous! o",)

They're hibernating this winter, buti nalang... Last summer I've encountered 2 brown snakes on my doorway. Whew!

docgelo said...

i myself was alarmed upon reading the title of this post, much more if you've known when this photo was taken by your friend that there was a snake near you. i was skeptical to scroll down my mouse with fear that i might see photos of anaconda or something.

believe it or not, i have ophidophobia or irrational fear of snakes.

bertN said...

Reena, wala ng "po" para hindi ako tumanda pa lalo. When I told one of my grandchildren that I was gettng old, she said, "You are already there!" LOL.

I used to work with a state agency dealing with energy and mineral resources.

RJ, do the snakes there ever break into the areas where your chickens are confined and feast on them?

Btw, "salt and pepper" ang buhok ko sa litrato, pero ngayon puro "salt" na lang LOL.

docgelo, I used to fear snakes as much as you probably do now, but I gradually lost my fear after encountering many of them in the field and realized that they are more afraid of me as I am of them...more importantly, they will leave me alone if I do not bother them.

The Nomadic Pinoy said...

In real life, we have snakes all around us - he he!. But wow, that was a close call. I wonder what you would have done if that snake crawled instead at night inside your tent as you lay asleep?

RJ said...

No, these snakes cannot enter the sheds. The walls of the buildings are solid, and the doors are well-designed to make it properly sealed, and are always shut to meet the required ventilation (including pressure) and temperature (which are sensed by the shed's electronic sensors that are connected to the computer).

Grey hairs? Kapag marami na raw pong puting buhok, marami na rin pong experiences at wisdom na pwedeng i-share... o",)

escape said...

havent tried holding a snake yet but im not really afraid of them. next time ill see one, ill definitely grab it. not with cobras. hehehe...

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

I'm not really afraid of snakes. I am more afraid of spiders, thus I call myself an arachnophobic :D

If I were your friend, I must have done the same thing, Hehehe... I also do similar thing to my wife (not snake but similar instance and I always got a good scolding) :D

Missy said...

I'm really afraid of snakes and my first encounter of snake was here in Japan, just a month ago (of course it's totally different when you just see them in the zoo). And my husband first question was, did you take a picture of it? grrrr.....( but I thought of that too, after the snake went away hehehe). By the way your photo is creepy but a nice souvenir hehehe

BlogusVox said...

You looked like one of those panning gold-miners in the picture. : )

I love the outdoors too, but not when there are snakes (poisonous or not)!

Anonymous said...

LOL! You're friend is hilarious but crazy at the same time.

Wow! May side view photo ka pa ha. At long last, I was able to get a glimpse of the mysterious BertN.

Take care always!

bertN said...

The Nomadic Pinoy, tama ka, marami ngang snakes around all of us...especially the deadly two-legged variety LOL. You know, I always worry about snakes sneaking in my sleeping bag whenever I sleep in the open air LOL. However, inside a zipped up tent, I feel a sense of security from the outside world no matter how false.

RJ, isn't it a comfort you have such well-designed sheds? Your only worry is power failure and I am sure you have a back-up power supply, just in case.

the DongG, just make doubly sure that the snake you grab is non-poisonous LOL. Even if it were poisonous and you were accidentally bitten, it is not a sure ticket to the "afterlife." It depends on how much venom the snake was able to inject into your system, its "deadliness" and if you or the persons you were with, were able to squeeze some of the venom out from the point of entry.

dodong flores, practical joker ka rin pala LOL. Just make sure the "jokee" is game, is not going to get hurt, or will not carry a grudge against you or plan to get even somehow LOL. In case of your wife, you are lucky you only get a scolding. Paano kung sabihin niya you are not getting "any" for the next several months LOL.

Missy, my wife is jus like you; she is deadly afraid of snakes, in the wild,inside a cage or wherever.

BlogusVox, I was trying to put some bait on my fishing rod when the snake decided to come out and get a sun tan LOL. Snakes earned an undeserved role as a villain all the time. I think they do more good than harm to people and to the environment.

dyosa, yeah, my buddy goes off his rocker every so often but it is in the name of clean fun. I can always depend on him if my life is on the line. Unfortunately he now lives in Ohio and we seldom go on nature trips like we used to. Btw, I enjoy reading about your trip to Macau and HK.