From Jennifer Gordon

Someone attacked this snake with a shovel, severing his spine. Somehow, he managed to make his way to our rescue.

I write about snakes a lot. Particularly copperheads, which seem to bring out some pretty strong opinions in people.

But there's a reason I gravitate toward snakes.

They're probably some of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. And after more than two decades of rescuing animals, I've come to realize that people are often the cause of the very problems we're trying to solve.

Writing about these experiences has become somewhat cathartic for me.

For years, I kept so much of what I witnessed bottled up inside. Eventually, I realized how unhealthy that was, and I started writing about the things I encountered in my work.

As it turns out, we have some pretty interesting stories to tell.

Like this one.

Meet one of our eastern ratsnakes, formerly known as black ratsnakes.

I'm not exactly sure who gets to make all these decisions about renaming animals, but apparently someone decided that ratsnakes needed different names depending on where they live.

Because, you know, a ratsnake is a ratsnake. 😂

Anyway, I digress.

I've always had a particular fondness for these snakes.

I understand that people fear venomous snakes, even though I could never bring myself to kill an animal simply because I didn't understand it or was afraid of it.

But ratsnakes?

They're genuinely some of the gentlest creatures I've ever encountered.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've met a few feisty ones over the years, and any wild animal can become defensive when frightened, harassed, or threatened.

But I've encountered completely wild ratsnakes that were perfectly content to rest around my shoulders while I walked around.

They're fascinating animals.

And this particular snake has quite a story.

Somewhere near our rescue, we believe someone attacked him with a shovel.

The injury was devastating.

The back portion of his spine was completely severed.

And somehow, despite that injury, he managed to slither onto our rescue property.

One of our staff members spotted him, recognized that something was terribly wrong, and immediately brought him into our veterinary clinic.

I still find it remarkable that he was able to make his way to us.

And here's where his story gets even more interesting.

Despite the spinal injury, he can still move the back half of his body.

He can eat small meals, digest his food, and defecate.

Larger meals are more difficult for him because of the scar tissue surrounding the injury, but he's managing remarkably well considering what happened to him.

We recently brought him in for another evaluation while we were performing surgeries to see whether there might be an opportunity to do some corrective work.

Unfortunately, he's not quite ready for that yet.

Because of the severity of his injury, he'll never be released back into the wild.

But what strikes me most about this snake isn't just his ability to survive.

It's his temperament.

He is one of the gentlest ratsnakes I've ever encountered.

Even after everything he's been through, he's remarkably calm when we're caring for him.

I know people sometimes roll their eyes when I talk about snakes as though they have personalities. But spend enough time working with them, and you begin to appreciate just how different they can be from one another.

I can't tell you what this snake thinks about the people caring for him.

But I can tell you that he's safe here.

He's receiving medical care, he's eating, and we're continuing to evaluate what we can do to improve his quality of life.

And yes, he's loved.

I often wonder what goes through someone's mind when they pick up a shovel and attack an animal that was simply trying to exist.

I understand fear.

What I don't understand is cruelty.

This snake wasn't looking for a fight. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He was simply going about his life until someone decided that his life didn't matter.

And somehow, he survived.

He may never return to the wild, but his story isn't over.

Oh jeez poor little angel :( glad to see he’s safe and well cared for.

It’s really hard not to feel anger and resentment towards people who do this to animals, wild or domesticated. It’s heartbreaking to think what could have happened had he not been so lucky as to be rescued.

What a beautiful creature.

Doing all this reading every day about animal care, I come across so much nasty stuff that either intentionally or unintentionally hurts so much wildlife. As we become more and more removed from nature, we lose our understanding of the importance of some of these animals, and we no longer know how to safely avoid them or even if we need to worry about them at all. When we understand more about electronics, atoms, or space than we do of the animals and plants that share our backyards, I don't know exactly what that says about us as creatures ourselves. While we've expanded our greater understanding of the universe exponentially, we seem really blind to what should be closest to us, myself included much of the time.

I don't enjoy seeing these animals hurt of course, but seeing so many miraculous stories like this of survival, and those of the humans that are trying to understand and love these animals has brought me so much happiness. We are surrounded by so many amazing things most folks will never stop to notice or appreciate, and while that is a bit sad, it keeps me remembering to take that time on a daily basis to look for some of these tiny events going on wherever I may happen to be.

Live a long and happy life, gentle snake!

I came across a huuuuge one (at least I'm pretty sure it was a ratsnake) in Delaware, sunning itself on a gravel road as I was leaving a park. Longest snake I've ever seen. I stayed until I was sure it was clear of the road, since I didn't want anything to happen to him.

While I wouldn't ever want to try to touch a random wild snake, I don't think I've ever been much afraid of them. I love the look of their skin/scales, and their faces, darting tongues, and just the way they move have always come across as beautiful to me. Whenever I'm at a place that has someone out with a snake ambassador, I'm always going to go check it out and give it a little snake pet. They just seem to want to chill and be toasty. Who doesn't want that? Sounds like a life well lived to me.

Sociopaths get a kick out of torturing animals.

They are elegant, graceful and slender beings. I'm apprehensive of the species that are actually dangerous, I wouldn't want to handle one of those. But I'm not afraid of snakes in general. I've always found them very beautiful and delicate.

Attacking/killing animals needlessly is a surefire way for me not trust someone. Who are you to decide any animal should die?

I'm glad this one didn't seem like that kind of thing, more of a scared gardener or something most likely.

It's been a rough week for me in my reading that I don't share here. There was just a successful rehab of a Great Horned Owl that was beaten by kids with a baseball bat. The owl was released successfully and got another chance by Ojai Raptor Center, which I feature a lot. There was also a very old snapping turtle also attack by kids with a bat that was taken to the clinic I work at. I'm off now, so I didnt get to see it in person, but the photos were very bad. It was alive for decades only to meet a brutal end. He was not able to be saved, and the kids were not identified, so nothing will happen. It's very rough following animal news sometimes.

I'd handle a venomous one with supervision. I'm not a particularly daring person, but that's one of those things that I feel so few people actually get to do that I wouldn't want to pass up a rare opportunity when it presented itself.

I don't know why someone wouldn't just avoid it if they were afraid. How are you scared to death of it, yet want to get close enough to chop it?

Considering snakes often bury themselves under leaves and even into the soil, I imagine it might've been a complete accident. Someone just digging with a shovel not seeing the snake.

I'm not crying!

You're crying!!!

Thanks for mentioning that. I hate thinking the worst of people and try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Our clinic had a very sad, intentional attack on a pretty special animal this week that was unable to be saved, so it's a bit more of a challenge right now. 😔

I was happy to see so many of you find a side in your heart for a little snake today. I never know how these types of posts are going to be received.

I don't like posting sadder stories, but ones that have positive endings and ones that highlight less commonly loved animals like snakes, spiders, or vultures, I hope puts their lives in a better light for some people.

I took this year to really get to know opossums up close, which many find creepy or scary, and by gosh, are they some cute and misunderstood animals! They've really jumped up in my list of favorites.

Thank you for taking the time to read about this special snake today!

I love our native marsupials!!!

Made a friend in a new city that had a pet one. Those guys are blind AF!

The only downside to opossums are their sadly short lifespan and their stinky poo! Otherwise, perfect angels! 🥰

I won't encourage anyone to keep one as a pet, as ours get very select and diverse diets, including stuff most people won't want to keep in their house (whole prey, basically), and again, I feel their poo is one of the nastiest smells at the clinic.