A couple of snakes have recently made their way into my life.

First, I was scanning some old negatives when I came across the picture above. It shows a younger me posing for the usual ‘cheesy’ tourist shot in a market outside of Bangkok, Thailand. I would guess that it was taken sometime in the early 2000s. The snake is, I believe a Python. It was heavy, very strong but not at all ‘slimy’ as I had expected. In retrospect I’m not sure it was such a good idea to put it around my neck. If it had decided to constrict I doubt that there was anything that I, or anyone else could have done about it. I can’t take any of the credit (or otherwise) for the picture as I clearly didn’t take it. It was taken with my camera though.

Then while walking the dog the other day I came across the snake in the picture below. I believe that there are three types of venomous snake in NY State: timber rattlesnake, the massasauga, and the copperhead. While I’m certainly no snake expert I didn’t think it was any of these (although there is a passing resemblance to a copperhead). I looked it up when I got home and I believe it’s an Eastern Milk Snake. Interestingly, when I stayed stationary (e.g. when I taking the picture) it would turn and start to move in my direction. When I moved, however, it would rapidly move away.

I wonder if I’ll come across any more in the near future? I could do without an encounter with any of the venomous snakes though.