I hate to see anything suffer and though I loathe most snakes, I can't help but feel a little fond of the comical looking little ring snakes around here.
They're tiny, no bigger than a worm, and they have round eyes that give their faces an almost cartoonish appearance. Most of them seem to have yellow bellies and necklaces but occasionally I see one that has a salmon pink coloration instead.
Yesterday, as I walked my dog, I saw a pitiful little ring snake at the top of the street. His tail was crushed but he was still trying to wriggle his head a bit. I saw him again in the afternoon. He was, mercifully, finally dead.
The Ring Snake
This fellow's so tiny
That you might mistake
His curves for a worm
Except he's a snake
I saw him this morning
Thrown next to the curb
He wasn't dead yet
But mortally hurt
His head was intact
But his tail badly crushed
It was flattened no doubt
By a car or a truck
Some time in the night
When the asphalt grew cold
And made a poor snake
Too sluggish and slow
To crawl off the street
To the safety of weeds
Now I'm filled with pity
To see how another
Innocent creature
Must languish and suffer
A harmless ring snake
Most unlucky fellow
With a soft underbelly
And necklace of yellow
Here's a happier image of a ring snake, a little drawing I did of a tiny ring snake in a surreal garden landscape.
Be Well and Good Luck,
Martha Maria