C066

Among my many friends on the farm were several snakes. Hisser, a spreading adder, was one of them. He wasn't very wise, for the first time I saw him his head was stuck in a spider's web. He was hanging with only a few inches of his tail touch-ing the ground. Probably the spider didn't like it when I freed Hisser from the web. As for Hisser, he spread his neck, opened his mouth to bite, and hissed like an angry goose.

Some weeks later, I sat down on a log to rest. Hearing a little sound in the leaves behind me, I turned around. There lay Hisser. When I moved, he made off into nearby weeds.

That winter I started to dig a hole in which to plant a nut tree. When I pushed a shovel into the ground, I heard a strange sound. I looked around me but could not see what had made the sound. I pushed the shovel into the earth again, and again I heard that strange sound. It was not caused by dry seed pods, or anything in the nearby bushes, or something in the pockets of my leather jacket. I felt puzzled. I pushed the shovel into the ground again and lifted out more earth. This time the sound was louder and three inches of a snake showed. It was Hisser. He had eaten the chipmunk that made the hole, and had gone to bed there for the winter. I covered him up for his long sleep.