A Rattlesnake Visits

Yesterday, I had a fabulous time painting on silk while sitting in front of my house. Fir and madrone formed an azure shield that protected me from the hot afternoon sun. I was engrossed in playing with dyes on taunt silk, mesmerized by the different colors reacting to each other in unique ways. Suddenly, out of my peripheral vision, I noticed something move, and when I looked up I saw a rattlesnake slivering towards me. It was within 24 inches of my feet, which were on the ground, and instantly I instinctively raised them up in the air, adrenaline pumping through my entire body.

As soon as I moved, the snake froze. I’m not quite sure what the snake was thinking (do snakes think?), but I suppose I surprised her when I raised my feet up. Grabbing my camera, it just wouldn’t turn on fast enough. Trying to focus on the snake became nearly impossible because I was shaking so much. She turned around and started to “run” away from me as fast as her scales would take her. Trotting after her, clicking my shutter as fast as the camera would let me, I tried to capture her image. And then she was gone.

My kids were just babies when we moved onto this land. This was about 30 years ago. My husband and I were terrified that a rattlesnake would bite us, or worse yet one of our babies. So we killed them. Then I would skin them, and cook them (they taste like chicken breast, but with a lot of bones). When Christina and Calvin were around four and six years old, we stopped killing the snakes, and instead taught our kids to be careful where they put their hands and feet. The snakes weren’t trying to hurt us, and we didn’t have to kill and eat them. That is when we learned how to live in harmony with rattlesnakes.