Okay...first you get a quiz, then you get the story behind the quiz. Ready? GO! What is the difference in these two pictures?
Figure it out? Well here's the story. I am driving along down Panacea boulevard when I pass this "mass" in the left lane. I realize what it is, put my car in reverse and high-tail it back to the scene. I roll down my window and slowly peer over the edge (just in case this big mamma jamma is waiting to stick one in me). Anywho...at that point I notice his brains on the sidewalk next to his head. Me being one for nature, I feel bad for the poor guy and decide that I am going to get out and put him in a bush (after all, he deserves a little respect, right? he has probably saved our yards from a few rodents here and there). Oh, did I mention that this scaly creature, while lying there lifeless, had what appeared to be a rattler at the end of it? "Silly", I thought to myself, "We don't have rattlers in Florida!" So, I begin to open the door when LOW AND BEHOLD he starts moving! "Holy crap!" I yell to Paige and Lindsey who are sitting in the car with me. Now I felt even worse. Here is this snake, brains out for the whole world to see (have we no privacy anymore? no humility?) and he is suffering to boot. I battle with myself on whether or not to try and move him, drive over him to finish him off (to end his suffering, of course), or leave him there for someone else to roll over (prolonging his suffering).
I opted to finish him off. Lindsey is in the back seat crying her bloody eyes out. Paige, being the humanitarian she is agreed with me.
But, when it came down to it, I couldn't do it. I drove away. Research the next day revealed that this snake was indeed a Diamondback Rattler: A venomous snake found throughout Florida.
What is even more perplexing is that the very next day, while walking out of our school building, Don and I were greeted by an approximately 4 foot long Diamondback Rattler on the sidewalk. His brains were intact :) He slithered off to the grassland. My only question is this: what does it mean when two Diamondback Rattlers cross your path within two days? There has to be some omen to this.
5 comments:
You are a crazy loon.
ahhhh yes, grasshopper, but you still love me!!
I could call Nihkita to ask about the meaning of Snakes in relation to the Hindu Gods? Sam
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NIKHITAAA
I did a little research. According to Cherokee myth, the rattlesnake was once a man but was changed into a snake and given rattles when it saved the human race from being burnt up by the sun. The Cherokee gave him a name that translates “he has a bell,” in obvious reference to the rattle. Also called “Thunder’s necklace,” the rattlesnake was thought to be the most prized ornament of the thunder god.
Cherokees never killed the rattlesnake unless absolutely necessary, and if forced to do this, would plead pardon from the snake’s ghost. The shaman of the tribe revered all parts of the snake –rattle, skin, teeth, flesh, and oil.
(http://www.jaxzoo.org/animals/biofacts/EasternDiamondbackRattlesnake.asp)
Also, the web suggests that being confronted by a rattlesnake once means your family misses you. Being passed twice, though, means you will be home in time for Christmas. Apparently Eastern Diamondback Rattlers really love Jesus.
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