Shudder

Do you recall my near-death experience with an extremely dangerous (read completely harmless) snake?

Yes.  It happened.  My sister and I were waiting for my clients to arrive for the photo-taking to take place.  

We started to explore and reminisce about some of our childhood explorations.  We climbed up a hill and I began to cross a barbed-wire fence... in my bright yellow flip flops.  I spotted an old, weathered board with a rusty nail sticking straight out of it and cautioned my baby sis to steer clear of it (as any older sister worth her salt would do).  My sister decided to do a little good deed for humanity, and quick as a wink, flipped the board over...nail side down.  

That's when she let out a semi-silent yelp.  And we stared at what was coiled underneath.  All those stories of what to do when you encounter a rattlesnake, came flooding back-- kind of jumbled...you know in case it was a rattlesnake (which it wasn't... but goodness, I am NO snake expert, you hear).  We were thinking that we were probably safe because it was quite cold, but we backed quietly away, my bare toes feeling very vulnerable...and I moved on down the fence to find another place to cross (after we snapped loads of photos from a very safe distance for proof of our harrowing brush with death).

So the moral of this story is... don't wear flip flops when there is any possibility of snakes nearby and also, sometimes when you try and do a good deed, it doesn't work out like you thought it would.

PS  Don't look at his eyes for too long.  They will creep you out.  Unless of course you like yellow-eyed snakes.  Personally I don't care for any snakes, no matter the eye color... although yellow seems to be extra creepy.