Cucumber Snakes

    Snakes are slithering little beasts that can be deadly. Some have pretty markings. Some slither on the ground. They hang from trees and some even smell like cucumbers. I thought it was a joke until I found out the truth, the hard way.
    I was born and raised in Michigan, where garter snakes reign. They were all I saw. All I cared to see. After being choked by a friend’s pet boa constrictor, I had a real phobia about snakes. All snakes sent shivers down my spine, including harmless garter snakes.
    Troy, my husband, was raised in Virginia. His grandfather taught him all the ways of the mountains. How to watch out for wild animals, especially copperhead snakes, he taught him how to protect himself from them. Troy told me about copperheads and that they smelled like cucumbers. I had laughed; a snake that smelled like cucumbers. I did not believe him, until one time when we went to Virginia.
    We went to a place called Laurel Creek, to do some hiking. We parked the car on the side of the road and walked on a path into the woods. It was very beautiful. The sun was peeking through the trees; it looked almost magical. I was expecting to see faeries flying around; I was quite enchanted.
    We walked along the path, Troy pointing out different animal tracks we saw. We left the path and he showed me an old Indian burial mound. We then went back to the path. Troy bent down and looked at something on the ground. I moved closer, he was looking at a footprint in the mud. My husband looked at me and told me it was a bear track and that it was fresh. I quickly glanced around me. I did not see any bear.
    Troy and I continued on the path, ever so often we would leave it to see something of interest and then we would return. Every time we came back, there would be a fresh bear track. A bear was following us, Troy had told me. I was beginning to feel a little nervous as we walked on.
    We came upon an orchard, when Troy abruptly stopped ahead. He stood quietly for a moment; I had stopped too and was watching him. He slowly turned around and asked me if I smelled something?
    I began to breathe in the fresh mountain air. I did not smell mountain air. It was a smell I knew and liked. Cucumbers wafted through my senses. Everything Troy had told me about copperheads popped into my head. He was not joking. I smelled a very strong odor of cucumbers, which meant I was surrounded by copperheads. I felt a panic attack coming on. I quickly turned and walked very fast, away from the orchard. I finally slowed down when the cucumber smell was gone.
    My husband came up beside me; he was smiling. He asked me what I smelled back there. I told him that I smelled cucumbers. He told me, “I told you so!” I knew that was coming.
    We continued walking; he saw that our friend the bear was still following. I did not notice the tracks; I was too busy smelling the air. I was feeling quite nervous, my head constantly moving at each sound. Troy noticed my anxiety; he told me what I could do to keep the snakes away.
    To this day, I am wondering if what he told me to do was true or he just wanted a good laugh at my expense. He had told the truth about the copperheads, so I did what he told me to do.
    He told me to beat a stick on the ground and be loud. I found a walking stick and started to bang on the ground with it. The part about being loud was a mystery. I did not want to scream and disturb the other wildlife, well, maybe the bear. Therefore, I decided to sing loudly. I did not know any good songs, so I ended up singing songs I did know, the downfall of being a mommy.
    I was walking down the path in the middle of a large woods, beating a stick on the ground and singing Barney songs loudly (yes, the purple dinosaur). Troy laughed the whole time. I imagine it probably was quite comical. At the time though, I was not laughing. I was scared.
    We were almost out of the woods, when I heard a very frightening noise. There was howling all around me. It sounded like it was coming closer. Troy told me that it was wild dogs, which were like wolves, and they always hunt in packs. The wild dogs were on the chase, and we were the ones that were hunted. The bear was not the only one that was interested in us.
    That was it for me; I could not take any more wildlife. I threw my stick down and ran. I never even looked back. I only slowed down when I reached the car. I waited for Troy to come out of the trees. He emerged after a few minutes with a big smile. He informed me that the wild dogs were still a distance away and that I did not have to run. I did not answer him; I just got into the car. He was laughing when he slipped in next to me.   
    The bear and the wild dogs had scared me good. However, the one thing that scared me the most was the copperheads. Cucumber Snakes, is what I so fondly call them.
    We vacationed in Virginia whenever we had the chance to. I do love it there, the mountains are beautiful and I usually find it peaceful. However, I thought it would be a very long time before I go back into Laurel Creek. I was wrong though.
    We ended up moving to Virginia, to a place called Bandy. We lived peacefully in the country surrounded by the mountains and wildlife, but it took a year of living here before I did go back into Laurel Creek in the late fall. I had no adventure with copperheads thankfully, just black snakes.
    Now we live closer to the city of Bedford, my mountains are in the distance, a highway is close by and not much wildlife. Surprisingly, I long for Bandy and the peacefulness of living closer to nature, and yes, I miss Laurel Creek and it is magical beauty. Although I will never miss, the smell of cucumbers connected with the vile snakes called Copperheads.