Toying With The Serpent - Part II

On the drive back to Mt. Glorious, Andrew skidded to a halt: a carpet python lay stretched out on the pavement, soaking up the pavement's heat in the early evening. This was a dangerous place for a python, lying across a road, but how to make it move?

I've read that stretched-out snakes can't strike easily - they need to be coiled to get maximum strike. So, I took a six-inch long branch and lightly stroked it over the very tip of the python's tail.

Just because it's hard to strike doesn't mean they won't try. The snake's head lunged towards the tail, simultaneously bringing the tail in, and coiling, making an impressive display of anger and power. The first effort was for show, but now coiled, the python would subsequently be much more accurate and pack more punch. They aren't poisonous, but that doesn't mean they can't hurt you.

Since the snake was now safer, coiled up in the middle of the road, we decided to leave. Presumably, the aroused snake left soon after we did.