I HAD TO TRY TO HELP

Off to a great start of the day.
After stepping on the nail yesterday. Can sort of walk. The swelling in the foot has gone down and I won't be taking any antibiotics, Did get a tetanus shot. Tetanus is not something I want to fool around with. I read that the muscle spasms from tetanus can be so violent they can beak the bones. No thank you. Soaking in water as hot as is possible without causing burns really does wonders for clearing up infection. But a friend just reminded me that infections can spread to other parts of the body so maybe I will get the prescription.

Off to the garden before the okra get too big and stringy. Oh no. I was so unhappy to see a beautiful six foot long shimmery black garden snake all entangled in the bird netting I had placed on the ground to discourage moles and squirrels from digging up the squash plants.

I should have remembered how bird netting on the ground means a real problem for the snakes. Their upper bodies are narrower than their midsections and they try to crawl through the netting only to get caught in the midriff. They swirl around and around trying to get free and simply wrap themselves up more tightly.

At my father's house i had the sad experience of trying help a grass snake get free but he ended up panicking and actually cutting himself in half. The netting is nylon and very thin so it acts like a knife. It was horrible to see poor thing. I'll never put netting down on the ground like that again.

Poisonous snakes are another thing but these simple creatures are actually a gardener's friend. The eat bugs and small rodents. Goodby moles. Also snakes in general are very territorial. So if a friendly garden snake has staked out my garden as his domain poisonous ones will go elsewhere.

But there he was. All wrapped up in the netting trying to squeeze through the chain link fence. Even though he may not be poisonous he is a wild creature and they can bite. What to do?

I had to try to help him (her?). How do you tell with a snake anyway. :) I had the scissors in hand from collecting the okra. The only honorable thing to do was to try to cut the netting off.

Would he let me? I was chanting Hare Krishna and telling him I just wanted to help. He remained motionless and as long as his head part was facing away I felt okay to try to cut at the netting. Not only was he wound up in the netting but the netting had sticks and branches and leaves all wound up in it too making it harder to cut. What a mess. I hoped he hadn't struggled so much that it had begun to cut him like the other snake before.

He let me cut away. I didn't want to hurt him. He seemed to know I was helping. He let me care for him. I needed to cut away the part that was under his body. Somehow he knew and rolled over exposing his underside.

After about five minutes of gently snipping he was free. He didn't run away right away but we looked at each other very intently. I was crying. So happy to him free from the problem I had actually caused by putting the dumb netting down. Shouts of Hare Krishna. Loud shouts. He just looked at me with very beautiful eyes. I could have hugged him, but on second thought let me just look at him with love.

I ran to get the camera. I wanted a picture of him. He was very beautiful. When I got back he had headed for the woods and I could only catch a quick snap. My hand was unsteady.

Whew. what a start to the day. Joyous.

I guess I did take a bit of chance with this.
"Are black garden snakes poisonous?
Although the toxins in garden snake saliva can be deadly to the snails, salamanders and other animals they eat [source: Venomous Snakes], they're not dangerous to humans. Nevertheless, a garden snake bite may still cause redness, swelling and discomfort."