My snake friend was murdered....most people will think me crazy.

[Critters2]

I can think of only 2 or 3 places where I could post this without being considered completely nuts, but this has been an awful morning for me.

There's been this garter snake hanging around my yard and the church yard for months. He often suns himself on the steps to the private entrance to my office, or on the sidewalk between my office and my house. Honestly, we've become friends. At first, he'd panic and slither off into the grass when I walked by. But I'd always speak to him, and in time he'd just sit there and I'd step over or around him. And keep talking to him. In time, when I walked up to him, he'd raise up...like a cobra, very cool...and I really think this was a greeting to me, a way of acknowledging me. He became my snake friend, and I enjoyed seeing him every day.

This morning, I walked out of my house to go to the office, and there he was...lying on the sidwalk..cut in half. He wasn't dead when I first saw him, and he tried to rise up, but he's literally in half. I can't even talk, I'm so upset. I didn't know what to do. I actually sat on the sidewalk with him for a few moments, watching him bleed and try to move. He's dead now, mercifully so, I suppose.

I'm sure a human did this. If a cat or a predator bird (we have owls and hawks here) had done it, they wouldn't have left him there. They would have taken him as food. This was done to be cruel, and I'm just so upset knowing someone so cruel walked into my yard and did this. And it was really just torture, he died a slow and awful death. I'm so angry and sad at the same time.

I have to make a home visit now, one I can't get out of (certainly not be explaining that my favorite snake has been killed). So, I need to pull myself together. But the senselessness of this is just beyond me.

Thanks for reading.

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. You aren't crazy at all.

You became attached to the little guy.

You used the correct verb, I fear.

:hugs:

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

2. You're not crazy at all.

I feel so sad for you. And to see the cruelty of killing the snake & letting it bleed to death.

:hug:

[stuntcat]

3. I'm sad too

People who hurt animals should all be cut in half, I'm not even joking. The snake was better than whoever hurt him.
I'm sorry :hug:

[livetohike]

4. You're not crazy

I'm sad just reading your post :hug: I worry about every single critter that I am used to seeing around our property too.

Whoever did that to your snake friend doesn't know that garter snakes are friendly snakes. It's pitiful.

[flamingyouth]

5. I'm very sorry.

People can be extremely cruel. Poor snake. :(

[Duppers]

6. I'm so sorry

I had the same thing happen many yrs ago. Thankfully, my hubby understood. My friend was a huge, long black snake that had kept me company for many months of lawn mowing until my asshole next door neighbor killed him one fall day.

I'm so sorry this has happened to your friend and to you. You're in sympathetic company here.
:hug:

[RebelOne]

7. You are definitely not crazy.

I like snakes. I have even had 2 pet boa constrictors.

[Critters2]

8. Thank you all!

Thank you for your kind words and support! Last night, I held a memorial service, thanked God for bringing this amazing animal into my life, and buried him. It may not matter in the long run, but he deserved to be treated with respect. I hope for the day when all people will treat all animals with respect--when snakes sunning themselves on the sidewalk will be perfectly safe.

Your replies give me hope that we may be closer to that day than I sometimes fear. Thanks!

Critters
still missing my snake friend

[peacebuzzard]

9. I am sorry about your snake friend.

What an ass of a person to kill him mercilessly.

[Coyote_Bandit]

10. .

I am so sorry that you lost your snake friend. It bothers me to hear how he passed. Thank you for staying with him after he received such an evil injury. Despite his pain he welcomed your presence. And I'm sure he found comfort in it.

:hug:

[Critters2]

11. I hope so.

I fear, however, that I taught him to trust humans. This may have been a fatal mistake. I feel a bit responsible.

[Coyote_Bandit]

12. Don't be

too hard on yourself. We humans, like your snake friend, often have difficulty knowing which other humans are worthy of our trust. For some people misplaced loyalties are also a fatal mistake. Your friend overcame his fears and learned to trust. That is no small thing. The tragic outcome was nothing less than a betrayal of that trust - and a reflection of the evils, fears, and ignorance that lurk in human nature. You should be proud of your friend. Even after such a violent betrayal he still trusted you and welcomed your presence. Your friend obviously had more character than the person who betrayed him. I suggest you consider that he also had more character than people who withdraw from life after lesser betrayals. During his suffering your friend demonstrated a great deal of courage. Your friend is not a victim. He is a hero. I hope you can see that.

:hug:

[Tumbulu]

13. that is so beautiful Coyote_Bandit

Thanks

[Critters2]

14. Wow. Thank you, Coyote.

He was very brave. You're right. Thank you.

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. You're welcome

[CrispyQ]

16. You're not crazy.

I'm crying just reading your post. I'm so sorry about your little friend. I'm glad you were able to be with the little guy in his last moments. We also have a little snake in our back yard that we have become quite fond of & I would be livid if someone deliberately hurt him.

People can be such monsters.

:hug:

[blondie58]

17. you are most definitely not crazy

you are just a person who feels things deeply, as we all should. What a beautiful place this world would be if more people did so. Every creature has a right to live its life out to its fullest.

[Lorien]

18. That's so very sad. I had something similar happen years ago

when I lived in an apartment complex. One evening when I came home I found what I thought was a huge black hose coiled in my front yard, but I soon realized that it was an enormous snake! I hadn't lived in Florida for many years, so I rushed inside to get out my reptile book to identify the snake. Turns out that it was a very rare-and endangered-indigo constrictor. It was about the size of an adult boa constrictor, but a deep indigo blue with a lighter underside. I knew that my neighbors might not appreciate the snake as I did, so I used two large forked sticks to carry it into a wooded area behind the apartments. It weighed about 15 pounds and was so long that it's stomach kept dragging on the pavement as I carried him, but it was cold outside, so he wasn't very active. My assistant from work drove by me as I was carrying the snake and when he realized what it was I was carrying, he screamed and peeled off!

Anyway, I got the snake safely into the woods and wished him the best. But three weeks later there was an indigo-probably MY indigo-laying in the parking lot with his head chopped off. I was absolutely livid an crushed. I had felt so privileged to have even seen such a magnificent and rare animal, and now someone had killed him for no reason at all! I wish I could have found out who did it, as indigos are on the endangered species list. :grr:

Edited to add some photos of indigos:



?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=4DAA13B573E1BD2FC83CD2FE012E66F3A55A1E4F32AD3138

[Critters2]

22. Those are beautiful!! Why do people do such awful things

to such amazing creatures? :mad:

[I Have A Dream]

19. Thank you for loving this little being. I'm sorry for your loss.

:(

:hug:

[Critters2]

23. Thank you. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. how awful. why would anyoen do that to the poor poor snake.

thats terrible.

[Critters2]

24. I know. I'm still stunned and saddened by it.

Thanks, priyanka.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. Completely understandable.

As you can see, my snake has gone missing.

When we first got the snake, it was only because my husband really really wanted one. I was unhappy with the whole situation. I told him that he was going to take care of it. But sure enough I ended up taking care of it. Little by little as I spent more time with her, I just found that she is more loving than my cats. She curls up in my hand and always looks for me when I get home. I always say "Gracie May, Gracie May, How many pinkies are you going to eat today?"
The thought of anyone doing something so cruel to any of her relatives is terrible.

[Critters2]

25. I saw your thread. Isn't it amazing how they grow on us?

I found my friend so amazing...that he could move so quickly with no legs, that he was so happy just lying in the sun. Just amazing. But someone didn't find him amazing.

And that amazes me, too.


Good luck finding Gracie May!!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. Oh I could watch a snake move for hours.

It's incredible. I don't like to think of it as "slithering" because that suggests something cold and slimy. It's more like...gliding.

I found Gracie May and I thank you very much for the good wishes :)