Anyone up for some weedeating or snakes? Startled me.
I'd not mind weed eating that. Looks like a Pine snake, or plain old Black snake, need to see its belly though to be sure. My Papaw John used to get Pine snakes, tease at one until it hooped itself up. He would roll it away while it was hooped. One got angry with him once though. It stood up on it's belly and stood at its head a little over four foot high and took into running after him to strike. Fortunately they lack venom, a bite though can still hurt. Papaw John also used to get snakes just behind their lower jaws, snap them like a whip, kill them.
Got invited once here in WV to a good old fashion church. Folks might say it would be due to power divine, to some deity or other. Others might say it was foolishness on my part, or courage. The preacher of the church put it to a deity. I sighed but just obliged "tradition". Yes, they passed snakes in that church, eastern diamond back rattlers even.
One key thing to remember, don't look into their eyes. That's how the snake "smells" fear. If you do look in their eyes, don't break eye contact first, let them do that. Do not then proceed to harm them after that though. You'll get bitten for sure and it might not be the snake doing the biting but a handler, of course the snake likely will bite you too, you'd deserve it. Instead, you let the snake go its way in peace. This too shows it courage and understanding.
While I visited FL, news ran on TV of a snake handler that did not listen to his Seminole guide. He would taunt the snakes. The guide told him one of the rattlers had whispered a plot to kill the stupid "white eyes" handler for being a coward. Sure enough that news ran, the guy got killed by a rattler.
One bit him and six others took up guard and let that one keep biting him and injecting him full of venom. Nobody could get the snakes away in time for saving him, not even the Seminole guide. He refused to use any way that could harm the snakes to help get them away. It was sad to hear but at the same time kind of expected.
That's kind of how I got clued in on dealing with rattlers. My wizard friend Knife-Hawk taught me enough to remain safe around them. I wouldn't exactly want to go wallow in a nest. *chuckles* But I'm not exactly scared of them either, respectful, yeah sure.