Black Snake attack

Black Rat Snake

not Obama

Several years ago we had a peacock perched in a neighborhood tree.   Nobody saw it land, or  leave.  Nobody called 911, or Eyewitness News.  Nobody knew where it came from. Damnedest thing I've ever seen.  This here, what happened today, is a close second.  A neighbor lady, a few houses down, went out to plant some flowers in an ivy patch near her house, when a Black Rat snake sprang out and bit her on the ankle, then proceeded to coil itself around her leg.  She's screaming bloody murder of course, and two men in the vicinity quickly came to her aid.  They had a hard time getting that snake uncoiled, and off of her.  Tried to decapitate it with a spade, but the soil was so loose it only pushed it into the ground a bit.  After a fashion they managed to kill it, and took her to the EM where she was treated. Blacksnakes are fairly common around here, mostly seen in the middle of the road under a tire track.  While fearsome looking, they're not poisonous, and until now I never thought they might have teeth. I found out something else whilst looking up black snake stuff.  All snakes are non-game wildlife and cannot be killed under Maryland law.  Not really surprising in a state that will throw you in jail for using a firearm to thwart a car jacker or rapist.  In fact, everything is illegal in Maryland; it's just a matter of who they enforce what against.