I almost stepped on a snake.
 

I cycle a lot on tracks in farming areas. I walked behind some trees for a call of nature, or in American, a bathroom break. There was a snake under some leaves, and I stepped just a few inches from it. It decided to get away as fast as possible. If I had stepped on it, I would probably have been bitten. It was only a small snake, about 2 feet (600 mm) long. There are many larger snakes around.

Where I am is python territory. I have seen a python caught by locals, about 5 inches in diameter. These are several meters long. If the locals catch them, they can feed an entire village or two.

Pythons are rare, as the locals eat them. Then you go cycling through these areas, and discover more. Snakes shed their skins. I have come across several snake skins while cycling. Two of them were so big, they must have been pythons. I have not seen a live python in the wild, but seeing the skins tells me they are there. If I ever see one, I am putting some distance between it and me quite quickly. But the concern is when you don't see them.

Of course I could just stay home, and put on weight until I die of a heart attack.

I could also ride on the larger roads, and get hit by a car or truck.

If I ever go silent on this forum, with no explanation. You can take a poll to see who thinks I got bitten by a snake, and who thinks I got hit by a car or truck.

Ok

Almost stepping on a snek in Texas -- off the pavement, anyway -- is like almost stepping on a stick or leaf.

I've shooed many an adolescent rattler off the road where they'd fallen asleep basking in the warm sun, and water moccasins off the MUP near the river. They come out after dark to enjoy a bit of warmth, then go into semi-hibernation as the nighttime temperature cools off. A squirt from a water bottle does the trick with rattlers. Doesn't work with water moccasins because... water. They're like "What? Already had my bath. Piss off."

Here's a war story.

In Aug 1990 I was deployed to Saudi Arabia and immediately sent to the Iraq border to dig in fighting positions and wait for tanks to come roll over us (which didn't happen haha). I was taking a break from digging and sat down against some brush on the ground. I heard a hissing noise that sounded like a kitten and felt something hit the canteen that was on my back hip. I thought "there aren't any kittens out here" and jumped up. A horned sand viper was hidden in the brush and had taken a strike at me. I ended up killing it with my shovel. My canteen saved me from one of the most deadly snakes on the planet and I would have been screwed because we were out in the middle of nowhere. Saw a cobra every now and then as well. The Bedouins who live out in that desert are some hard core people.

It really depends on where you are and what type of snake.

Around here most of our snakes are Garter Snakes and Gopher (Bull) snakes. Both harmless. If I find a live gopher snake on the road, I'll try to shoo it away, just in case the next vehicle coming down the road isn't as snake friendly.

There are some rattlers (which look somewhat like the gopher snakes), but they're pretty rare now.

We don't have python weather here. Although the snake is an invasive species in Florida.

My parents' generation fought in WW II. One uncle was in the Pacific theater going island to island. On one after dark beach head, they were told to trench in and hunker down waiting for dawn. My uncle awoke to find a coral snake that he had blindly cut in half attempting to dig into the sand/coral/stone beach. He'd given up in frustration and simply slept. That was his story, anyway.

tl;dr: OP was bored and wanted to post something today.

Should have brought your pole.

Americans say “nature break.”

Dumb to walk into those conditions if you live in snake county, as you claim.

D-

See me.

OP hasn't posted in six hours. How long should we wait before organizing a search party?

fify.

Perhaps he’s realized that the jig is up (a few stragglers aside) and will retire this sock for another one, at least temporarily.

Pee from bike for safety
gm

I have been bitten on the hand twice by a python, a smaller one like you described. It left a pair of horseshoe shaped sets of tiny puncture marks on my hand, but no other effects. The snake let go as soon as she realized I was not of edible size. I imagine I would be telling a different tale, or not here to tell any tale at all, if it were a full grown reticulated python or an anaconda.

I encounter a snake every time I take a nature break. I just wrangle it back in after I finish and go back to what I was doing before.

OP's in Florida, which is now python territory thanks to pet owners who, at one time, thought they wanted to own a python.



Please move to "Florida man" thread.

The images of how big some of the Burmese Pythons in FLA is unsettling.

i often come across big snakes sunning self and it always is a scary thing.
bunny hop mostly away to safety.

I'm voting for "impaled on steerer extension or pole." Or maybe "choked on sock."

Silly Americans, I have to explain what "nature break" means to you because you are so unsophisticated you couldn't possibly understand what that means!

(this works better in a Monty-Python-French-Soldier-Taunting-King-Arthur voice)

Now that's funny I don't care who you are lol

Man bitten by python while on toilet https://www.huffpost.com/entry/austr...b03ef2d08bc31a Law of the jungle, big snake attacks smaller snake.

Super hardcore.
I drove by them. It was hot. Funny that they weren’t wearing shorts and tank tops (heavy sarcasm).
But hey, what do they know about dress in hot weather? They should learn from us westerners.

It seems you didn't read what I actually said. I have never heard an Australian say "nature break." Most use words not polite enough to write on this forum. The few that I have heard trying to be polite, have said "call of nature." However, there are probably Australians somewhere that use other expressions.

It seems like you think there are only Americans on this forum. There are actually people from all over the world, and with some, English is not their first language. They don't understand unusual expressions.

When Phil Liggett has come across these situations in the Tour de France, he explains what it means. He knows some people wont understand unusual expressions.

You will also find, the number of people who read this site, but don't contribute, would probably be somewhere between 20 and 100 times the number of people who contribute. Many of them don't speak English as a first language.

Maybe you could spend time with people who don't speak English as a first language.