You don't hurry a Cottonmouth as they take their time no matter what. By standing their ground and if annoyed, showing their namesake mouth, they get a bad rap. I find them far less likely to strike than the antsy Copperhead. In this case being stubborn gets you killed. It was a beautiful, very dark male and I just eased him along once he decided to leave and kept a couple of rednecks from doing him in. As far as the little ones, I was sorry to see all those that didn't make it. I've never seen the road that busy with cars and trucks on a week day. It is amazing that these first year Broad-Banded Snakes, over a 1.2 mile stretch of road, all decided it was time to head for high ground and their historic wintering dens, all at the same time. Birds, snakes or just Nature in general will keep you on your toes, all you have to do is slow down and try to take in the lessons. Even after quite a few washings, my hands still give off hints of the foul smelling musk that water snakes extrude from the glands at the base of the tail. On a bird note, to satisfy the list rules. I had a single Mississippi Kite across the river at Island 40 Chute yesterday. It flew from TN into Ark. Chris Sloan and I had two very late birds over there a few years back. This is my latest date by a full week. Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL' COOT / TLBA Bartlett Tenn. =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================