This is Texas

I am quite familiar with snakes, I had one growing up (it died, I was too young and forgot to feed it) and unlike most people they don't give me the heebie jeebies. Most of you regulars probably figured that out by now since that one week where we lost our 4 ft pink snake in the house right? Wild snakes though, whole different story.

I grew up in San Diego, we have snakes down there. We had signs at work where they had lunch tables outside that warned people of the rattlers. The security was out at least once a month in the warmer months with a long claw thingy and a trash can catching the buggers that got too close to our doors or tables. The shipping and receiving guys had a rat snake they caught in an acrylic tank they built (out of shipping scraps) in their office. They didn't touch it ever but kept it clean and well fed. Illegal I'm totally sure and the company never knew about it either. Regardless I don't mess with wild snakes. I have a healthy fear of rattlers since I was a wee one who was taken out on hikes all the time. I'm not stupid, I don't touch ones I didn't raise from a baby and I'd never raise a poisonous snake.

So today I had to go run an errand at work so it's about noon, hot as all hell out (yeah, it's Texas alright) and I come up behind a gold minivan. I look at the back bumper and it's got something hanging out from the interior side of it. Ya'll see where I'm going here? My mind registered it as something odd because it wasn't hanging straight down, it was sort of unwinding. The color made it hard to spot, it was a light gold color that matched the car color so if you didn't register the fact that the shape of how it was moving was snake like you'd have never known it was a snake trying to escape from inside the bumper of a minivan. Got the heebie jeebies yet? Yeah I thought so. It creeped me out too. I wanted to snap a picture but just as I noticed it the light turned green and the snake quickly sucked itself back up inside the bumper. I was bummed I couldn't get a picture, it was just such an odd sight! I wanted to tell the driver but I couldn't get his attention. most probably they would park and that sucker would creep on out and go off into the wild again anyway. I hope.

I couldn't tell what kind of snake it was though since I only got to see it's underbelly. I'm paranoid though and I can't identify snakes worth a crap. If it's brownish, creamish, blackish, or copperish (oh those copper heads are NASTY) I don't want anything to do with it.

So tell me, if you saw something like that falling slowly out of your bumper what would you do? I am familiar enough to not run screaming but I will walk quickly in another direction and not get back in the car without someone going to check it out. Seriously man, this is why I don't own a car with a trunk...