Slithery Encounter

Today we went walking with our friends, the Yahnies*. Initially we went so we could find a letterbox at Parley's Nature Park, but the gate was locked due to the torrential river which was threatening life and limb.  At times it is best to take precautions.  Besides, I am partial to our lives and limbs.     
So instead we decided to stroll along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and hike to the bridges that span the highways.   We started down the lovely, paved path when Ls made a beeline right for a large stick.  A stick that kind of looked like a... SNAKE! 

After I shrieked a quick warning to absolutely not go near the stick snake, we all froze to make sure it wasn't really a snake after all.  And then the stick slithered its tongue.  EEEE!  This thing was at least 3 1/2 feet long.  And it was golden with black checkery marks.  And it was slithery.  And it was a snake.

After some research upon returning home, I discovered that there are 31 different species of snakes living here in our state.  7 of which are venomous.  Of course I didn't know that at the time, and venomous or not I prefer not to share my immediate vicinity with them.  Or any vicinity, actually.  Besides, a one in 4ish chance it could be venomous is WAY too high for me.   

Moving on with the story, we were, well, waiting for the snake to move on.  Ls and the Yahnies' little gal tried to go inspect our slithery friend, but we moms said "No way."  We gave the thing PLENTY of room.  It didn't look like a pit viper to me, but I took a picture anyway just in case. 

After our glorious bridges crossing experience, we came home quite exhausted but ready to find out what kind of snake it was.  And thanks to the DNR we found out it was a gophersnake.  Thank heaven it wasn't that Egyptian Cobra escapee from the Bronx Zoo out on the town again.

And, just in case you're curious, here's a quick and handy guide for what to do if you're bitten by a snake and how to tell venomous snakes from non-venomous ones.  Not that you'll ever catch me close enough to one to find out.

*In order to protect the innocent, I purposely mis-spelled this name.

"I'm not about to go out and buy a snake for a pet. I mean, I may have faced a few fears but I'm not insane." -Kristin Davis