Snake & Rabbit

June 05, 2004

I hadn’t seen a snake in a long time. I think you can easily remember the last time a snake surprised you. It was a dark garter snake last summer. It whipped across the trail and disappeared into the dry white tan summer grass that carpeted the area under a grove of arbutus trees. It moved in a stretched out manner for most snakes. The ocean on my right and the grove on my left. This time it was a metre long bull snake. It triggered its sequence of muscles into that tighter “S” shape and slid quickly across the concrete pathway from my left to right. I could see the darting of its tongue. St.Lawrence River on my left scrub and tall green grass on my right. I stopped running and remained still. I always do this. It may have saved me from danger. It may have further endangered me. It’s an instinct that may come into question when I come across a grizzly bear cub. The snake stopped. I finally grew bored of my examination and rustled the bushes to watch it move again. Movement is always more interesting than the static display and a battle of patience. Two minutes later, along the waterfront path, a small mottled brown rabbit hopped across in front of me. I stopped. He kept his distance but seemed to understand that I couldn’t catch him. He seemed an urban bunny and this was underscored by the shabby molting away of his gray undercoat. He could easily be supplementing his grasses, grains, tubers and vegetables with Tim Horton’s crumbs and sips from puddles of sticky cola behind the 7-11. I continued my run and thought of the lawyer joke about the blind rabbit and the blind snake. I was “run dreaming” as I spotted an elderly woman walking her Persian cat. No matter how much people say their cats like to be walked on a leash the behaviour of the cat heavily underscores its discomfort. She snapped at me, “Don’t run across the lawn”. I was surprised and disappointed, as it appeared to be a perfectly good public lawn running beside a riverside walking path. I love to run across lawns. Nobody has ever asked me not to. I said, “ok”. She said, “The sidewalk is right there”. Instead of saying “oh my! Where?” I said, “thanks”. I wanted to say, “thanks but did you know you’re walking a cat?” or “I saw a snake and then a rabbit back there. Your grass is in real trouble. I might trample it. The rabbit will eat it and the snake will hide in it and maybe swallow your cat while you’re looking the other way and telling people to stay off it”. I ran on without really stopping. I broke the cycle.