Date: 2019-05-22
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter 

To: Laurel Creek Campground 
Miles today: 15.1

Day 51 All Creatures Great and SmallI made it today to Laurel Creek Campground with a large bunch of other hikers. One chap kindly made a fire and we all sat around chatting about the days escapades. We were interrupted by a curious snake encounter. Actually it¢s not my first snake episode. Lately I¢ve been seeing lots of snakes. As an Australian I am very cautious of the dangerous things. But in North America it seems things aren¢t so deadly. In fact the only snake to watch out for is the Rattle snake. Actually I¢m told I don¢t even have to look out at all. It¢s rattle is so loud I¢ll hear it long before I see it. But as for the other snakes I see, they seem far more docile than what I¢m used to. Generally when I come close to a serpent it¢ll scurry off as quick as can be. Not so on the Appalachian Trail. Instead they seem to just lie there and wait to be trodden on! I¢ve tried throwing a stick from a distance but that doesn¢t seem to bother them. I¢ve yet to pluck up the courage to move one with my walking pole. Instead I stomp my feet and make a major diversionary track off my intended path until I¢m clear of the thing. An amazing experience was yesterday when I came across two 2.5m black snakes locked in an intense wrestling match. (See photo above) I¢m told it¢s a mating ritual and I was the unfortunate intruder to necessitate ¢coitus interuptus¢. At first they were both too interested in their struggle to bother about me. But after a minute or so I guess my gazing put them off their embrace. Both snakes cocked up their heads and then slowly they started to unwind and make their way towards me. I retreated in panic and was saved by ¢Belch¢ (who is a reptile aficionado ) who as cool as can be reached out and grabbed the larger of the two by the belly and lifted it away. ¢Don¢t do that! You¢ll get yourself killed¢ I hissed in fright,  thinking of what would happen if he were to do that in Australia. It wasn¢t the most appropriate thing to say in the circumstances but then again I am prone to quite easily perform foot in mouth at the most inopportune times. Once the bigger of the two snakes was out of the way the next serpent also headed my way and ¢Belch¢ once again came to the rescue. Thank goodness for that. Back to my fireside tale. Our relaxation was curtailed when suddenly out of the bushes came an eight foot black monster and sidled up to one side of the circle. None of us knew what to do and this time ¢Belch¢ was not with us. I think we all shot our eyes to our tents to check we had securely zipped up the openings. Some even hurriedly looked up Google on the phone to see what was the best way to scare the thing away. It was not perturbed at all. It cocked up its head, looked this way and that then headed over to a nearby tree. At this point all the birds started making an almighty racket. We didn¢t know what was up at first. But the snake had a deadly plan in mind. It arched up its body so that it was now standing four foot tall, grabbed a slender branch above it then slithered up through the foliage. It had spotted a nest which was not obvious at all from our eyesight. It honed on in. We were all gobsmacked to see the demise of two hatchlings and three eggs. It happened so fast. At this point many of us retreated to our tents to firmly secure all openings whilst one  hiker stood guard reporting the next movement of the beast. Fortunately for us anyways it headed off to other trees well away. Wildlife experiences like this are one of the features of my walk on the Appalachian Trail and I¢ll keep these  memories for a long time. Then from a nearby roadside came the call ¢Hey, there¢s Trailmagic by the road¢ A hikers mum and dad had stopped by in their truck with bags and boxes of goodies. All thoughts of the snake were vanquished as all the hikers made a manic stampede to the food! Never get in the way of a famished hiker and nourishments! We all slept contentedly that night with just a slight concern of where that snake might be.