other life forms

I've spoken with you previously about the birds, now I'd like to address some of the local wildlife.
One day on a drive back from Dzidzantun, we saw a very recently deceased snake in the road. John stopped for a closer look ( why wouldn't a person stop to examine roadkill...) and informed me it was a rattlesnake. I will admit I too leaned in for closer inspection and could actually see the rattles which, by the way, were still quivering though the poor guy was obviously deceased. About three weeks later on the same drive we saw another snake. I may have mentioned it to you before. It was roughly the size of my upper arm and was a grizzly site that I refrained from looking at for longer than it took to determine what was supposed to be encased in its skin was now residing on the road...sorry for that detail but i'm trying to fill you in....So, I was beginning to understand why we see guys on days that are hot enough to melt asphalt wearing rubber boots peddling down the road on rust covered bicycles with guns slung over their shoulders. After the day we saw a tarantula crossing the road ( "to get to the other side...")I made up my mind you would never get me to walk in that grass. John and I have discussed on many a night drive home down that road that should a breakdown ever occur we are not walking anywhere. We would spend the night in the car.
So about three days ago, another road kill appears closer to our house. This one is a boa with a beautiful skin basically unblemished by its fatal interaction with a vehicle. As we pull away, John comments that "I should be skinning these. I could dry them out back. I'm sure I could sell them or maybe barter with someone". My initial vision was of John as a Crocodile Dundee like character brandishing his machete out back stringing up yet another snake carcass on a coconut tree. "Maybe we should wait until you actually know how to tan them" I suggested.
While discussing these topics, people have tried to tell us that we did not see a rattlesnake. That there are no rattlesnakes here. So I went on line this morning and looked it up . There are in fact rattlers and there are vipers- the poisonous variety- several of them evidently. The list of snakes was about 25 names long. Some are tree varieties. I don't know which is worse- having one drop down on you from above or the water variety that silently swims up to you and comes face to face with you while you're trying to stay afloat.
Here's another snake conversation we had with a woman from Canada. We were riding in the truck with the windows open, I was in the back seat so it was a bit hard to hear. I thought I heard her say something about mating snake balls. I commented "I couldn't hear you" and she repeated louder "mating snake balls in Manitoba" . What?! She proceeded to explain how there are tens of thousands of garter snakes-more than anywhere else in the world-in this town called..i think it was Narcisse in Manitoba, Canada. They live in these underground dens through the winter . Come spring, they come out into the open and begin mating. I guess their.."activity" results in a big ball of snakes. These snakes evidently follow some sort of route that leads them over a highway. " Oh yeah" my friend said" it got so bad cars were hitting these things and sliding all over the road so they had to put in sort of viaduct for them. There's a big mating snake ball statue and everything in the middle of town. it's quite a tourist attraction". Well, I thought this was the craziest thing i'd ever heard of so i looked it up on Wikipedia. Sure enough, there it was. Evidently the big freeze of 1999 really decimated the masses and thats part of what prompted them to put in the viaduct. they also put up signs by the freeway warning people to watch out. It has greatly reduced fatalities. Wow, who knew? Mating snake balls complete with statue...." Guess what we're goin' to see for vacation kids!...."
I was at a vets with a friend the other day getting eye medicine for her cat and spotted oddly labeled bottles of something that looked like snake oil sold by a traveling salesman. "What is that?" I inquired pointing behind the counter. The man rattled off an explanation while my friend translated. It was a Mayan , well, medicine man's( for lack of a better name) remedy for snake bites. You rub it on externally then ingest the rest. He says it works to keep you alive until you get to the doctor. He proceeded to tell us a story about a fisherman who was out on the ocean. He was very allergic to bees and carried a bottle with him. Good thing because one day while he was fishing, a swarm of bees ( who knew bees went out to sea! evidently he did and that's why he brought the medicine..) attacked him and he was covered in bites. Someone asked me why he didn't just jump in the water. I don't know why but as his throat began to close he drank the medicine and was able to breath well enough to get himself into shore and to the hospital. Stupidly, I did not purchase any of this magic elixir but now that I have learned about the wide array of snakes, I may go back.
We have also heard stories of crocodile sightings. Of course the first time I did not accompany John into town he saw one but I had a sighting of my own the other day. His lair is just off the road in the "manglar"- the mangrove swamp where he likes to hunker down under a tree. First of all, I think of a swamp as stagnant and draped in spainish moss. A place where chian gang escapees flounder through while beating off water moccasins.This is not like that. The water moves, is pretty clear and the mangroves are short stubby things that have birds on them not moss. This fellow was about 4 ft long and not scary looking at all.
We now have a little dock built on the back of our property that goes out into the manglar. Our friend is a nature photographer and asked if he could have one built for photo opps. We don't really mind, but it feels like we are leaving the back door wide open......