This past weekend, I did some traveling in east-central Pennsylvania. On Friday, I burned a vacation day and headed to York to take in the annual York Fair, and checked out a band playing at Fat Daddy's in York afterward. (Reviews of both coming soon in "JP's Corner")
At the end of the evening, I roadtripped an hour northward to my overnight accommodations for this night, at Pennsylvania Musician Magazine headquarters, publisher Whitey and editor Robin Noll’s farmhouse residence near Liverpool, about two miles west of the Susquehanna River. What I affectionately refer to as ‘The Pennsylvania Musician Bed & Breakfast’ is a farmhouse in rural Perry County, and the house is surrounded by farmland. I was reminded of this when I was awakened the next morning by the sound of a cow mooing in the pasture up the hill from my window!
Anyway, after awakening, I showered and went downstairs, and enjoyed Robin’s breakfast cuisine of bacon, eggs, home fries and toast. (Whitey says he likes when I stay overnight, because he actually gets served breakfast the next morning!) We were just finishing up breakfast when Whitey looked out the kitchen window and said, “Hey Jim, come over and take a look at this!” I went over to the window, and he pointed and said, “See that black thing that looks like a bike tire innertube?” I looked and saw it, and the ‘innertube’ was moving. Obviously, it wasn’t an innertube, but a snake…and a large one! I quickly ran upstairs to grab my camera, and all three of us headed outside for a closer look.
The snake was a black rat snake, and it was slowly slithering through the lawn towards a line of brush and trees bordering the lawn. Outstretched, this snake looked to be just over six feet in length! Whitey and I walked up slowly behind the snake, and the reptile slowed, raising its head a few inches off the ground to look around. Whitey took his walking stick and gently tapped the tip of the snake’s tail, prompting the snake to quickly coil into defensive posture, its head raised and its black tongue quickly flicking in and out of its mouth. Obviously we had its attention! I took several pictures of the snake, which remained coiled in anticipation of any possible further moves by either of us. I sat down at a picnic bench about 10 feet from the reptile and continued to take pictures, while Robin and Whitey both sat down on a nearby swing about 15 feet from the snake. As I took pictures, Whitey and Robin explained that several snakes lived in the vicinity of their farmhouse, including black rat snakes, black racers, and a corn snake. Whitey said he has even seen a king snake and a hognose snake in the 20 years they’ve lived here (fortunately, no poisonous ones). They have seen this particular snake before, as it frequently makes the rounds in search of rodents and the occasional bird; it has even hibernated in their attic and basement! (This is not uncommon for old farmhouses such as this one, the snakes find cracks in the stone foundations and make their winter homes there.)
The black rat snake, as it made its approach towards brush and trees. Stretched out, this beast was over six feet in length!
Coiled in defensive position after Whitey tapped its tail, the black rat snake.
Getting face to face with a black rat snake!
The snake flickers its tongue.
Coiled up and ready for action, the black rat snake.
Another view of the snake.
Convinced that we no longer posed a threat, the snake began to uncoil and resume its journey.
After a few minutes, the snake started to relax, realizing that we were not an imminent threat to it. The snake started to uncoil and resume its slow journey across the lawn.
Then the cat showed up.
Also residing in the vicinity of ‘The Pennsylvania Musician Bed & Breakfast’ are several semi-wild farm cats. These cats stroll and wander around the yard and will walk up close to you, but refuse to be petted, retreating several feet if you advance towards them. One of these, a small black cat not much larger than a kitten, walked over and sat down about three feet in front of the snake’s path and began cleaning itself. The snake slowly advanced, with the cat seemingly oblivious to its presence. Robin started to worry about the ensuing confrontation, but Whitey told her to stay calm; he wanted to observe nature in action.
To borrow a line from Jethro Tull’s “Bungle in the Jungle”…“And he who made kittens put snakes in the grass."
The snake, likely thinking to itself, “What the heck do I have to do to get to those darn woods?”
With the snake about two feet from the cat, the cat suddenly took notice of the reptile, and started curiously approaching for a closer look. The snake apprehensively raised its head a couple of inches off the ground and closely monitored this newcomer. The tension grew, as the cat inched ever closer to the snake, and the snake moved its head to match the cat’s moves. The cat was a foot away, and inched still closer. A half foot away…The cat stretched its nose towards the snake for a sniff…
The cat moves in for a closer look.
And a closer look...
Then suddenly, in a flash of motion, the snake huffed and wildly coiled back into defensive position, its black tongue again flickering. The startled cat lept about a foot off the ground and landed about two feet back from the snake. The two creatures glared at each other, with the cat slowly stalking a one-foot perimeter around the coiled snake. The snake was again tense and waiting the cat’s next move.
A classic standoff…Black cat vs. black snake!
The cat continues to study this new foe
The snake maintains its defensive posture.
What a classic showdown!
The cat continues to size up the snake, shortly before retreating to the porch.
Fortunately, that move never came, as after a couple of minutes, the cat decided it didn’t want a piece of the snake, and slowly retreated back towards the back step of the house. After a few more minutes, the snake relaxed and again started stretching out to continue its journey towards the brush. This time the reptile proceeded uninterrupted, although I got up and followed it from about 15 feet away as it gathered speed and started slithering in an ‘S’ pattern. Shortly before entering the brush, the snake stopped and lifted its head about a foot and a half off the ground, apparently studying its destination and where it would go next, before dropping its head and slithering off into the brush.
It was an impromptu episode of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, right in Whitey and Robin’s back yard! I hadn’t seen a snake that large in the wild since my early years growing up in Sinking Valley! This was an interesting and unexpected thrill that provided an early highlight on my Saturday morning, as well as another highlight in what was a great weekend for me!
