General Cycling Discussion - Funny Snake Story

Met up with a snake with an attitude today. I was going through some tight singletrack so not going very fast, when I see this 2 ft. long blacksnake lying across the trail. I don't like to run over animals so I stop and just touch him with the front tire. He just starts shaking his tail like a rattlesnake. So I touch him a little harder. Starts snapping at my tire. Bump him again. He starts up through my spokes, goes around the hub, up through the upper spokes, around the tire, up the fork crown, around the head tube and onto the handlebars and starts snapping at me! Meanwhile I'm holding the bike up by the seat and lmao.
I couldn't believe it. Most animals given the chance will retreat whenever possible. This guy thought he owned the trail apparently. :)

LOL! He's a smart one too! Knows which part of the bicycle/rider combo to sass! :)

Black snakes get pretty aggressive, I catch them in the yard (If I don't the dogs eat them) from time to time, they "rattle" and strike, but if you hold them in your warm hands for a minute they calm right down. Don't try this with venomous snakes, I caught a copperhead once and could not figure out how to let him go, finally tossed him into a creek.

I wish to heck I'd had a camera. It was hilarious. :)

That's one brave little snake. Can you imagine yourself going at and elephant?:D

Sounds like he was trying to steal your bike.

A black snake bike-jacking? :eek:

So how did you get him out of your wheel?

Joe

Great story,

Something similar happend to my friend and I out motrocycle riding.

This was in NM, we were riding at Aguirre Springs Park loop, which is paved and very twisty and fun. We were just coming into the part early in the morninging and this large gopher snake was in the road, so we stopped to help him before an idiot in a car ran him over. I went off the side and picked up a stick to try to get him off the road.

Anyhow, once I startled him, he went for my friends bike, got all wraped up around the back of the bike and actually started climbing up into the frame.

It took us about 20 minutes to get him untangled, I though he would get burned from the hot pipes and engine, but didn't. Folks were driving by just laughing at us!!

Originally posted by joeprim
So how did you get him out of your wheel?

Joe

He ended up mostly on the handlebars and down the headtube so he wasn't very tangled. I was standing really close to a cedar tree and broke a dead branch off and pushed him off with it. He tried to bite the stick too. :) He finally took off pretty quickly.

Originally posted by Dirtgrinder
He starts up through my spokes, goes around the hub, up through the upper spokes, around the tire, up the fork crown, around the head tube and onto the handlebars and starts snapping at me!
Dirtgrinder, I related your story to a fri8end of mine this morning. He shook his head and said, "I don't believe it. Didn't happen."

:eek:

I assured my friend that you would never lie about a thing like that!

:beer:

Thanks Pete. I guarantee you it did happen. What would be the point in making it up? Not like I'm making any money off of it. :)

Snake with an attitude, what do you expect? I mean you nudge it with your wheel, and then again a little bit harder, and then once more. Its bound to go on the defensive, wouldn't you?

You should of just got off your bike, veered off the path and then continued on your way. Its not like you own the path either.

Dirtgrinder you may want to be careful if you go back there in a few years and he's bigger. He may hold a grudge and be waiting on you:D

Originally posted by Portent
Its bound to go on the defensive, wouldn't you?


Not a chance. If I saw something at least 100 times bigger than me I'd get the hell out of there as fast as I could.

Originally posted by hillyman
Dirtgrinder you may want to be careful if you go back there in a few years and he's bigger. He may hold a grudge and be waiting on you:D
Maybe I should paint my bike a different color. :eek:

Originally posted by Dirtgrinder
Maybe I should paint my bike a different color. :eek: Nah, just upgrade :)

maybe it was a roadie snake, hissed off at all the
downhillers and MTB types.

I couln't resist.

Marty

I bet it was a racer. :D



On a serious note...I don't believe for one minute all that garbage I have heard about snakes "attacking" or "chasing" people just out of the blue. I bet 9 out of 10 just want to get away, and wind up acting aggressive when they feel trapped or threatened.