A couple of days ago I took the dogs for their walk down Wildlife Trail, where the road has recently been resurfaced. I noticed that Zeke was paying particular attention to something at the side of the road. When I went over to look, I didn’t recognize it at first. I fairly quickly saw that it was a snake, but it looked strange. The head looked almost like a cobra with its hood spread, but the snake looked black with a grayish diamond pattern. Then I realized that it was a black snake that had been caught in an erosion control mat that was backed with a green plastic mesh. The pattern on its back was the mesh. It had tried to crawl through an opening in the mesh. It couldn’t get through, but it had pushed into the opening far enough that the thin mesh caught on the scales and it couldn’t back out. Its head was horribly swollen. I thought it was dead, but it moved a little.
I didn’t have my camera then, or my reading glasses, so I couldn’t see very well. I knelt down beside it and used the scissors on my little Swiss Army Knife to cut some of the mesh threads. But I just couldn’t see well enough to do much.
I had to take the dogs a little further, but I planned to come back after their walk with glasses so I could free the snake. On the way back up the hill, I looked for the snake but couldn’t find it. I assumed it had freed itself, although I couldn’t figure out how it could have done one that
So I went on about my business for the next couple of days. I took the dogs on our usual walks on Fouche Gap Road and didn’t go down Wildlife Trail. But today I had to get Zeke to the vet, so I took a shorter walk down Wildlife Trail. This is what I saw.
Black snake – the green mesh is barely visible
There it was, right where I left it. I don’t know how I missed it. This time I had my camera and my glasses. I debated taking the photograph (and it turned out blurred anyway), but I went ahead purely for documentary purposes. I thought this time it was surely dead, but then it moved again.
I knelt down and started cutting more of the strands. The swelling had gone down considerably, but it seemed that there were still strands that were caught under the snake’s scales or embedded in its flesh. Even with my glasses I still couldn’t see well enough to make sure I was getting everything, but I cut away as much as I could. Then I had to walk away.
Again, I planned to come back later with my magnifying headset to try to finish the job. When I finally got back to where it had been, it was gone.
Did I get enough of the mesh cut that it was able to crawl away and survive? Did I cut enough away that it was able to crawl away and die? Did some predator get it? I have no idea. It was hard to believe the snake survived with its grossly swollen head. It was even harder to believe that it survived several days after that. I didn’t expect to be able to save it, and I still think it’s unlikely that it has survived. But I didn’t want to just leave it.
A few years ago during the worst part of our drought, we put up some plastic fencing around some plants to keep the deer from eating them. We found a dead snake caught in that fencing. I never thought about how dangerous that kind of thing can be.
I’ve seen several snakes ensnared in this green plastic erosion control mesh over the years, too, Mark. All of them have been dead. It’s really disheartening. The stuff ought to be outlawed, especially because it persists for a long, long time–long after the erosion control function has ended. You’re a good Samaritan, even if the snake ended up dying.
Scott — I had assumed it was made of some kind of plastic that would degrade, but it certainly looks like the kind that lasts for years. Putting it down with a matrix of seeds and whatever organic mulch they use seems like a perfect invitation for snakes to crawl under it, and then up through it. I was amazed that the snake was still alive when I first saw it, and even more amazed the second time.
What a sad, cautionary tale. Such a sight, that poor snake. Good work for trying to free it, Mark. Really good work.
I have to admit I’d never thought about the erosion control mesh as a killer. Good deed, Mark, snakes are remarkably resilient, so maybe that one survived. From the photo I think I see the white flecking that suggests a black rat snake. Yeah, they’re common, but I love watching them climb vertical surfaces, and they’re really good citizens (unless you keep chickens).
Robin — I suspect that there are a lot of people around here who would think that the only good snake is a dead snake, but it’s kind of gut-wrenching for me to see something like that and not be able to help, or to feel like the help I am giving is just not enough.
Wayne — I am certainly going to think twice about using the plastic net-type fencing we used before if the deer make another concerted attack on our plants. There must be something else that would keep them away.