Saturday, March 13, 2010

A gliding visitor

It never happened before at this location.
In the dry river bed near the Sea of Cortez and the rancho of the Gonzales family at Punta Boca del Salado, Baja California, Mexico.
That a snake came by.

But yesterday a large, 2 meter long snake was in between the beach furniture.

On the other side of the Baja California peninsula, on the Pacific coast, at the location of El Triple where so much conceptual photography was created, snakes sometimes have been met.
Those were rattlesnakes.
Large ones that pose a threat.
Because if they manage to bite, being far away from a clinic with anti-serum, death is a realistic possibility.
Hence, in the past, whenever a large rattlesnake was spotted near the encampment of El Triple, the unfortunate animal was killed.
Throwing rocks at it to incapacitate it and next to chop off the head with a machete.
A cruel and animal unfriendly activity but only justification was that it was one of two options: either move away from the area and leave the snake its territory.
Or to kill it to be free of a possible new and mortal engagement.

Fortunately, for the last years time was spend at El Triple, no snakes were met.
And if they had been met, because of maturing, improving awareness and reaching more harmony in life, this business of killing snakes would not have been an option anymore.
It disappeared from the program of approaches to nature.
The same for fishing.
For years fishing was an activity to have a more protein rich menu.
Until it was realized how opposed the fish were to being caught.
How they resisted with everything they had to be landed on the beach to die by suffocation.
Once this awareness was prominent, all the fishing gear was donated to a member of the Gonzales family and never a fish has been caught anymore.

Therefore, when yesterday this large snake was spotted, no immediate thought came into the mind to kill the beautiful reptile.
It was yellow with black spots and had a rather small head.
No large fangs characteristic for poisonous snakes.
Immediately it was realized it was not poisonous and not aggressive.

In spite of the higher level of animal friendliness that has been reached, the idea to have snakes around close by still does not appeal very much.
That's why the snake was guided and escorted in a friendly way to an area a safe distance from the Fuso Szulc.
Where hunting grounds are happy for a snake also.

That evening Gumaro Gonzales received a report about the snake visiting the Fuso Szulc.
And he said it was a common snake around Punta Boca del Salado.
A friendly and beautiful snake.
Content to be still alive.



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1 comment:

Dawn Pier said...

Maybe there have been no more snakes at El Triple because you killed them all. How wonderful that you have become enlightened that killing the snakes is not the peaceful harmonious way to live in nature. I believe the snakes feel instinctively if we are in harmony with them and leave us alone if that is the case. I think it is a terrible shame this habit of so many people in Mexico of killing any and all snakes they see.