Beauty of the Wild
When talking to various persons abroad not only in my hometown but within different capacities that i serve in, i have spoken with various persons about the wonderful world of nature. It is somewhat neat to me when speaking of wild things, they shun the topic about Snakes.
It is not that I love them, neither do i lie down with them. Let me explain further, i remember a story told of a man in the bush at one time and was caught in a torrential downpour such that he flipped his canoe upside down and slept the night underneath the canoe. He awoke at some time to discover a cottonmouth moccasin lying underneath the canoe with him. He simply looked at it and went back to sleep. Talk about being at peace with the natural world…
Now I may not go so far as to execute a feat such as this but when i do run across snakes in the wild I understand that they like any other breathing organism serve and fulfill a select niche. It is the understanding of this role that they play in the natural world and the niche that they fulfill that brings them even greater respect for they certainly do a great job of ridding the world of vast array of pests including large amounts of insects.
Some of them are not only beautiful because of their excellence in fulfilling their niche but some are beauties on the outward appearance as well.
Now there are none so beautiful as the Diamondback Rattler and recently when i was in Texas i saw in about one months time approximately 15 of these babies.
Due to my business at the time i had to allow many of them to just move along but i managed to perform a little wildlife management and harvest one of these Diamondback Rattle snakes, to utilize it’s skin on the limbs of a custom made Osage Orange bow that i am presently making.
I did learn that they are really a misunderstood species in regards to their assumed aggression. It was not the case with me, in my experiences with them, many of them simply attempted to get away as I attempted to get them to coil and rattle. I attempted to agitate them to the point of aggression and couldn’t manage to cause, not one, to coil up and rattle.
Out of approximately 15 snakes not once did i have one respond with any rattling whatsoever. It was neat just to be able to see such a beauty in the wild world of nature out there doing what they do best, fulfilling their niche and presenting me with awe-inspiring appreciations.
Signed Chris Harrell
