Every silver lining has a cloud of gray...
I went out for a ride today, and I was fortunate enough to find a few out-of-towners looking to ride some good trails. These guys were all single speeders, and were from all over the state (so I guess Jefferson City made sense as a meeting place).
We were really enjoying the trails, and the many fresh spider webs put out last night, when we found something a little rare....it was a Western Hognosed snake. I am a bit of a snake guy, and have studied snakes most of my life. Hognosed snakes are sort of tough to find around here, and the western variety has eluded me my entire life. Today, I found my first, unfortunately it was a few moments after one of my fellow riders rolled over it dealing it a death blow. Here is a nice picture of the snake as it died.
We were all truely sorry to have accidentally killed such a neat animal. For those of you who do not know, this is the one that will stand up like a cobra and flare its hood when provoked. When that display fails, the snake will allow its mouth to gape open and rollover on its back and pretend to be dead. This has got to be the neatest snake a person can find. BTW, these are completely harmless, so if you are lucky enough to find one, let it go, there is no reason to kill such a cool creature.
Happy riding!
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Reptiles are good
Dude Im with you. We see snakes on the trails all the time. They are 100% to be avoided. Go around them and let them pass. They don't mean no harm and besides it is their home.
We are stewards
I ran over a baby bird earlier this year and it really bugged me enough that I had to pray and ask for God's grace. We need to be good stewards of the creation and take care of it much better.
That would hurt
That would hurt a lot. The fact that it would (did) bother you demonstrates that you hold the right attitude - heart and mind in a good place.
Some wouldn't think twice about it. They are the ones I worry about.
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