Fall in Saskatchewan is just beautiful.
I usually feel safe walking around outside. After all, I live in the grain belt of the prairies – not exactly crawling with violent and venomous creatures. But a surprise encounter last week changed my perspective.
There I was just enjoying the gorgeous weather and beautiful fall colours – the last thing on my mind was personal safety.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, I got accosted by this vicious snake. I was shocked, defenceless and totally unprepared. I didn’t know what to do.
OK, maybe that was a wee bit over stated. By accosted I meant that the devious creature suddenly appeared and I’ll admit vicious might be in the eye of the beholder but I saw it in this creature’s eye!
Notice the vicious-looking eye.
I bent over to take a closer look. Now in the interest of full disclosure, I should probably also mention that the snake was about the width of a pencil. But I can assure you it was wily.
I took a couple of photos in self defence, checked my camera and looked up to see that it was sneaking off to regroup for the next attack. I courageously jumped up to follow but it was gone. Wily and deceptively quick!
Now you may be thinking that I’m making a big fuss about a small, harmless snake. However, that snake and I both know better! Next time I will be better prepared!
Don’t let the tiny size and outwardly calm nature of this snake fool you.
I was fortunate to have my camera to defend myself.
PS (can blogs can a have a PS?)
Last weekend I was patiently explaining to my wife how getting Freshly Pressed was just not going to happen. She’s an optimist and naturally expected it to just appear. So of course, the Freshly Pressed email just appeared two days later. What do I know?
It was exciting to see so many new folks showing up in my little corner of blog world. In case any of you showed up again (I admire your courage), thanks for stopping by. It’s been a fun ride and I have a lot of new blogs to check out.
On another note (best not press my luck with a second PS)
Last June I wrote about an orphan grizzly cub (he’s the bear standing in the top right corner). I just stumbled upon an article that indicated he made it through the summer and appeared to be doing well. Great news!
Krahnpix 
You want to see viscious snakes, pop on over to the holler! Hilarious post~
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Glad you found it funny. The snakes you are talking about are the ones that scare me to death.
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You are very lucky to have escaped with your life after the encounter with that viscious attack snake! Yikes! 😀
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I was thinking that I would be much more nervous in your area which actually does have vicious creatures!
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This gave me a chuckle to start my day – wily creatures will do that, I suppose! great post – and congrats on being ‘Pressed’!! 🙂
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And knowing I helped someone chuckle made my day! Thanks for the congrats.
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That vicious-looking eye is always what I notice first when I am accosted by snakes!
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So I’m not the only one – great!
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Of course you can have a ps. I am glad that you did, as I had not noticed that you had been freshly pressed. I don’t look every day, and had seen your post well before it was freshly pressed. Congratulations. I have given up the thought of being freshly pressed long ago. I am sure my blog is too scattered and unfocused for them to take notice.
You are my favorite blog for wildlife pictures, so you well deserve to be freshly pressed.
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Thanks for the permission and the strong endorsement. Much appreciated.
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Beautiful pictures. What camera do you use? Please, let me know the picture mode of the camera.
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Thanks. I took the photos with a Canon 5D Mark II. I was surprised by the snake so didn’t have a lot of time to tinker with my settings but I took it in aperture priority at 5.6, 1/1250 sec at ISO 800.
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Thanks for the details..
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Cute. Next time you’ll have a tele-lens, right?
And congrats on FP!
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Yes a longer lens would have been easier. Thanks.
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