Reply #9: could be....

[hlthe2b]

I think my reaction would be to jump back and observe from a distance.

Then again I drove all my working colleagues crazy in India, when I was drawn to every damned snake (cobra) charmer that frequent street corners in Delhi and elsewhere. I always thought I stayed a reasonable distance. But, I must admit that when a couple of cobras escaped the charmer's basket on one occasion and started moving rapidly directly towards me--causing a policeman to start running--I did exercise a bit more caution from that point onward...