Trink ....trink....trink.....trinket snake!

Perfectly  Camouflaged

I always seem to be running late.  And I have the most far-fetched excuses .....believe me if you will.

During the rains, we cannot bring our Alto near the house due to the gushing stream that flows past.  So we park the car beyond it – about 100  mts away.  

I have walked all the way from the house past the neighbours farm, crossed the stream, reached the car thinking to myself well at least today I am on time, only to realise that I have left the car keys on the table at home!

Then the other day, I did all of the above - in time,  with my car keys safely clutched in my hand, started the car and barely went 2 metres ahead when a huge tractor-trailor lumbered up on the tiny dirt road bang in front of me.  There is no way that I can get past.  The guy is carrying compost for one of the fields  which has a road access only through the stream.  The stream is at a very low ebb today and the perfect day for them.  But the path is blocked by a stone barricade that some other villagers have erected to chanel the flowing water to their fields.  So two men jump off the tractor and proceed to remove the stone barricade at a leisurely pace.  Then  the tractor eases down the path, finally allowing me to proceed.  I was late again - but wasn't really my fault, was it?

Just the other day, I was rushing out to meet some one.  Normally the last thing that I do after locking the back door and the side door, is let the dogs out onto the porch and then lock the house. Sometimes I have to entice them out of the house with chew-sticks,  so they know the routine. The minute I pick the keys and the chewsticks, they race out of the front door.  I did my final check -– mobile, car keys, etc and was just about to call the dogs out when I noticed Zuki behaving rather strangely. She was just 2 feet away from the  cane chair on which she normally sits, and looking very alert and  barking in a very strange soft way -  not the normal BOW WOW cacophony that greets guests or monkeys (not in any particular order) .  This was just a ‘whurrff’...   ‘long pause’ ..... ‘whurrf’.   She was gazing intently at the Cane chair.  I looked too, but couldn’t see anything amiss.

 Then suddenly it moved.

 It was a beauty of a snake, just as slender as the cane and perfectly camouflaged.  Now this one, I had to get out of the house. But before anything else, I had to get the dogs out of the way.  I pulled some chewsticks out of the packet and as usual they ran out onto the porch.  But today I wanted to lock them in the inner room so that I could  send the snake out without their interference.  It took some cajoling  to bring them back into the house and into the inner room. I locked them up there and then turned my attention to the snake.  It was a real beauty and unlike any I had seen before. We looked at each other for some time.  I clicked a photo, a small video as well.  

Now to get it out of the house.  It was perfectly coiled around the cane of the chair and all I had to do was slide the chair out without alarming it and then it could go out in peace.  But it wasn’t as easy.  I waited until it was facing away from me and slowly tried to move the chair.  But the minute it sensed the movement, it turned towards me and actually appeared to swell up!  I stood still waiting till it relaxed again and started exploring the other parts of the chair. Slow gentle push......all the way till the door....Yes! managed it!  Now one step below –I had to lift the chair.  That movement caused the snake to panic, and seeing the door quite close made a lunge towards it. The last thing I wanted was it to  climb onto the door and escape to some unreachable place.  I managed to lift the chair and place it out on the porch.  Now with better light, I could go around the chair and admire it more closely and click some better pics.  

And then suddenly I remembered my appointment.  Well no more time to dawdle, I pushed the chair to the edge of the porch and tipped it over gently. The snake – back on familiar ground, raced out to the safety of the bushes.  I waited a while before releasing the dogs.  

Later on looking up the book of 'Snakes in the Indian Subcontinent', I recognised it as a ‘Trinket Snake’  A pretty name for a pretty snake!

Needless to say, I was late again.