My Friend

I have an old wire fence around my backyard. Every few years I get ambitious and go after the "weeds" that start to grow in my raspberry patch, grape arbor, and lily of the valley garden. One time, while pulling up a plant, I noticed a snake skin. Upon further searching, I found several more. Seems Snake found the perfect spot to shed her skin.

It didn't take long before Snake showed herself to me, a beautiful Garter. I called her Elizabeth, and looked for her every time I worked in the yard. Sometimes she was by the compost pile, sometimes she draped herself on the stack of apple tree branches pruned during the winter. One day Elizabeth was sunning herself with a friend, a smaller Garter. They were beautiful.

A few years passed and Elizabeth moved on. I missed her.

This spring, a snake a bit smaller than Elizabeth showed up in the backyard. She loved to spend her time within the piles of straw blanketing the ground under the McIntosh apple tree. It was cool and damp there, desirable conditions for snakes such as she.

I had to be careful when walking in the yard because this little one loved to sun herself between the little white clovers that I leave growing for the bees. She also loved the shade of the holly trees, where sweet drips of water could be found at the faucet.

These past few weeks have had record setting temperatures here in my town, 90s to over 100 degrees.  A taste of what we have done to our atmosphere, a glimpse of what our summers will be like from now on. I see the animals struggling to find places of coolness. Squirrels in the bird bath. Robins in the sprinklers.

I have been diligent about keeping two sources of water filled for my animal and insect neighbors. I run the sprinkler for a little while, several times a day so the birds and squirrels can cool off, and the grass can stay green for the rabbits to eat. And I hose down the straw for Snake, so she can stay cool in her dark hideaway.

This morning I answered a knock at the door. After stating her business, the woman said, "Do you know you have a snake on your front side walk?"  "No," I replied and stepped outside.  "It is there in the mulch, coiled up. I think it is dead."

I walked a few feet down the concrete path and looked down. There, freshly molted, was the most beautiful snake I had ever seen. My friend. She had deep rich colors of green and blue adjacent to beautiful cream colored stripes. Snake was loosely coiled up, her mouth wide open and bright red. My friend was dead.

There were no signs of injury. Just a beautiful healthy looking Garter snake.

My heart sank. I felt a deep sadness, a tremendous loss. I had watched out for her, provided her water, tried to keep her straw pile cool in the intense heat wave. I admired her beauty, I talked with her while watering the garden. I looked for her each time I went out the yard. And now she is gone.

I picked her body up and placed her under the beautiful pink rose bush, saying a prayer taught to me by Grandma Twylah. And I wondered how many more snakes and birds and squirrels and fawns died today from something that I and all other humans helped create. I feel such deep sorrow for the suffering that this climate change is causing the other Beings that share this planet with us. Snake was the first casualty I witnessed first hand and that makes it all the more real.

My heart is still heavy with sadness knowing that tomorrow will come without my Snake friend. It will bring with it another day of extreme heat, and I don't know what to do to help my friends.