Snake Bite! Fang In My Finger! I Don't Want To Handle Snakes Anymore!

Snake Bite!  Fang In My Finger!  I Don't Want To Handle Snakes Anymore!

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

I was thinking about all the kinds of snakes that are in the Everglades, in Florida now.  Oh gracious, it seems like it would be like living in the Amazon.  I think it's a scary situation... at least it would be for me... if I lived there.

They have many exotic, invasive predators now... I wonder how everyone copes.  Is it dangerous to venture out far from one's home?  Have to worry about pets?  About children?  I would be afraid to walk into the grass... after all I've seen, listened to on National Geographic.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't go looking for one of those 'predators'... because Granny Gee has alot of curiosity... she likes to see things that are hard to believe!  There is alot of wildlife 'not indigenous' to Florida... or to the United States!  Wow!

Can you imagine the things you might see just on a walk ... 'in the right place?'  I can imagine how wonderful it'd be to see such different species we 'never had before'.

I've been watching documentaries on the many kinds of snakes there.  I wonder how it will be handled through time?  It would be interesting to talk with people who see, know about the snakes, alligators, and other invasive species.

Not only that... they are getting bigger!  At this moment I am watching a documentary on African rock pythons, how dangerous they are.  How aggressive they are... how dangerous they are to... man!  Guess what?  They are in Florida, in the Everglades... they are getting closer to homes now.

I've become fascinated by these pythons, boa constrictors, so on.  They think that people just let go of their pet snakes years ago... for them to mate and have many, many babies through time... when there were floods, that added to displacing the snakes from their habitats.  I'm betting some came over on ships.... they are mating with each other ... who knows what kind of snake that produces?  There are all types of these snakes, moreso... than I have named.

What fascinates me is the fact that 'they are here' ... and I wonder how many people are taking it seriously?  If people take precautions when they go out both day, night?

These are predators unlike we've ever known... I can't imagine going out the door and tripping over such a huge snake!  At least, I could see that one was there!

The colors... oh my... the beautiful colors ... so many different colors, patterns ... truthfully, the snakes are beautiful in their own way.  I've always liked snakes, though I learned to have the greatest respect for them... after I was bitten once!

When I was much younger, quicker... I would grab up a snake if I saw it, to get to look at how beautiful it was.  That included moccasins, and copperheads.

Thankfully, the snake that bit me was non-poisonous.  It was a beauty, it was a huge, shiny black snake!  That's what got my attention.  I went to grab it behind its head... it bit me before I knew it!

I went into shock... nothing mattered at that moment, I didn't even remember that the snake 'was just a black snake, not poisonous'... all that went through my mind was ... 'I've been bitten!'

I was trying to look at my right index finger ... it had left one of its fangs in it!  I pulled it out... oh, how my finger hurt from that bite.  I gradually became aware that I wasn't going to die, because that big snake wasn't poisonous.  I never felt any kind of sickness from the bite.  It was strange though... the shock I experienced from 'knowing I'd been bitten'... it was like my mind went numb for a few minutes... gradually I 'came out of it'.

I did learn great respect that day for snakes... I did learn that when you play with them... it's a matter of 'when'... you are going to get bitten, not 'if'.....  Even the most experienced snake handlers get bitten..... I was very fast as a younger person.

Now... back to the huge snakes such as pythons, and boa constrictors... can you imagine if that had been one of them to have bitten my finger?!!!  Better yet... can you imagine Granny Gee picking up a seventeen foot long snake to 'look at its colors'?  :)))

The day that big, black snake left its fang in my finger, put me in shock, and I felt that pain.......I learned not to be picking them up anymore.... I didn't want to be a 'snake-handler' anymore.

No, I don't want to handle snakes anymore!  :)))