[Eric]

Last night I had to shoot a deer .... I was visiting friends a ways north of here, and I decided to take a short cut on the way back, a wicked, hilly, winding streatch of road, known as the Burnt Hills Road ... I hit a deer. Fortunately for me, I was driving my buddy's pick-up, as my own car was in the shop. I hit her in the back end and it looks like I broke her pelvis and shattered her legs. I phoned the Kingston Humane Society, and they said they would be about an hour getting out there with the lethal injection. My buddy is a hunter and there was a .308 in the gun rack of his truck and some ammo locked in a box. I told the people that I had a gun, and that rather than leave the poor animal suffering for an hour or so, I could end her pain. The guy asked me if I was sure I could do it in one shot, and asked about the location (no one for miles around) and the calibre of the gun (more than adequate) .... so I held the gun to her head, and shot her. And all the time she looked at me with those big brown eyes.

I know that rat snakes are not as cute as bambi; and I know that she had to be killed, so, Brian, if there is any moral to this tale it is this: if there is any way you can handle your wild, reptillian friend without killing it, I hope your find it.