After I let the dogs out this morning, I glanced through the kitchen window and saw something large and white on the other side of the backyard fence. I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t see it clearly, but it looked like a large white bird. At first I thought that Bill or Ted had gotten out of the chicken coop, but whatever it was looked bigger than either of them.

It was a peahen, and a second later another one flew down from the pecan tree in the backyard. Then I noticed a third one. And then a fourth. The fourth looked like a young peacock. What a special treat, to wake up and look out my window and see a vanity of peafowl!

By the time I got my socks and shoes on, they were gone. I was concerned that the dogs would get them. It’s surprising how easily white birds disappear into the brush; I couldn’t see any trace of them.

I was standing there at the edge of the creek looking for them when I thought there’s a snake around here. Sure enough, about 4 feet to my right there’s a copperhead.

It’s hard to tell how big a snake is when it’s all coiled up.  And they tend to stretch out when they’re trying to get the fuck out of there, but I’d estimate it was about 2 feet long.  Not very big.  I went to find something to kill it with, but by the time I got back it was gone.

In a way, I’m glad.  I hate taking another creature’s life.  There’s the story of the frog and the scorpion, and how after the scorpion stings the frog it replies that it’s in its nature to do so.  So it is with poisonous snakes.  It’s in their nature to bite and poison.  So I should kill them, right?

But there the snake was.  Just a few feet away.  And while it was coiled and ready to strike, I didn’t get the impression of hostility.  It was ready to defend itself, but it wasn’t being aggressive.

When I was a kid, the sight of a snake struck fear into my heart.  The fear would subside once I’d identified the snake, but there was always an initial terror.  This is the third time I’ve spotted a snake and not felt that terror, even though the snakes have been poisonous on two of the three occasions.  I was surprised when I looked down and saw them, but I wasn’t terrified.