Bad Deal

[guidofatherof5]

About an hour ago I was at my neighbors mowing her lawn. I'm always on the lookout for any snakes. I did see a large(gravid) radix laying in the grass. At first sight I thought she was a strange colored girl. Then I saw she was covered in those very small maggots. I picked her up to get a look at her. She had a large wound on her side. I believe part of her lung was protruding from the wound. She was alert and doing a lot of tongue flicking. She was unable to move the lower 3/4 of her body. I also noticed most of her lower jaw was missing. I'm guessing this was some kind of lawn mower injury.
I put her down to end her suffering. It's a shame such a nice looking adult radix had to meet such a horrible end. To make things worse she was probably gravid and all her babies were lost also. It's a harsh world out there for these gentle creatures.
I didn't like putting her down but I'm glad she didn't have to suffer what was in store for her. That would have been no way for such a beautiful girl to end up.

[Hollis_Steed]

What an awful situation! I'm glad you could help her out by putting a quick end to her suffering. Thanks for being ever on the look out to help out the less fortunate.

[ConcinusMan]

The odd thing is that the maggots were eating only the dead tissue, and probably keeping her alive by doing so, prolonging her suffering.

A sound decision and brave thing you did Steve.

[Spankenstyne]

Often the right decision is the toughest. You did good by her & made the tough call, the right one.

[ConcinusMan]

I guess that's why I may come off as "cold" or "unfeeling" sometimes. Just trying to offer something a bit different to the forum. I do not take actions such as "culling" or "euthanasia" or feeding snake-to-snake lightly. I do have feelings. It is an emotional and hard decision to make. Glad to see that Steve was strong and able to do the right thing.

It truly is a "bad deal" that you had to see that snake in the shape it was in, but truly a "good deal" for the snake since you were there to end the suffering. Steve is rewarded and blessed with great joy by interacting with the snakes. But with that comes great responsibility. I think he is truly God's advocate between the snakes and man. Glad that Steve is here to share that with the rest of us.

[infernalis]

Kudos to your decision Steve, It's a hard one and often a tear jerker to boot.

Your a hero brother.

[ConcinusMan]

What he said ^^^

[drache]

yeah, it sure is tough out there
it's a good thing you knew what to do

[Snakeknot]

In my job I have had to hold many dearly loved animals while the vet euthanizes them. Its never easy, nor should it be. Euthanasia is a big deal. But I have come to think that sometimes it is the only way we can heal wounds too great to fix. I am against anything having a long, lingering death full of suffering. In this way, I think our animals have it better than we do. We can choose to end their suffering. We gotta suffer!

Steve, you're a braver man than me. I can hold a dying animal as long as I'm not administering the shot. It would take a lot for me to dispatch a suffering animal. I had a fit when I found a dead garter squished on the road in front of my house. It looked blue.

Devon

[guidofatherof5]

I had a fit when I found a dead garter squished on the road in front of my house. It looked blue.

Devon

Most of the dead garters I see in the road take on a blue appearance.
I think is just part of the decomposition process.
I sure don't like seeing them there because most of the time they were thrown there after being killed my a human.