Who will win this fight for survival? Photo by Denise Vaillancourt.
I commute to work on my bike most days, and I like the way it allows me to experience sights and sounds I miss when traveling in a car. I can do a little careful birdwatching on the ride. But my interactions with animals other than birds are usually pretty sad. Often I find these animals on the losing side of an interaction with a car. I always think the same thing: “There but for the grace of God,” because I’m nearly as vulnerable as they are when I’m on my bike.
On a recent ride I came upon another tragic animal scene, but one that was different from the ordinary. I was the only human involved. On the shoulder of the road ahead of me, I could see a snake rolling around. It was really strange behavior and at first I thought it was going to be another hit-and-run victim. But as I got closer I could see that it had something in its mouth – a huge toad. In fact the toad was so big that as it struggled it rolled the snake around. I got off my bike and stood nearby to keep them from rolling into the road – no need for both of them to die, I thought. It was an epic battle and quite awful to watch. The snake would swallow one rear leg then the other leg would kick it in the head multiple times. To protect itself from the kicking, it would grab that leg only to lose the first leg and end up with more kicks to the head. The snake couldn’t keep both legs in its mouth and wasn’t making much progress at swallowing more toad. The toad was kicking and rolling, knocking the snake around so that they’d roll along the pavement. I don’t know if the snake badly overestimated its own abilities or badly underestimated the toad’s ability to fight, either way it wasn’t going well. I kept them from rolling into traffic but otherwise left them alone. It seemed as though I stood there forever watching the horrible scene, though I was probably there for only five minutes or so.
Finally the snake gave up! It just let go of the toad and headed off in the opposite direction on the road. I approached the snake first, from the road. It avoided me by gliding up and over the granite curb and into the underbrush – perfect! Then I went to the toad. It was horribly injured on both sides of its torso, some of its insides on the outside now. It was too hurt and in shock to try to get away, but it was alive. I picked it up as tenderly and carefully as I could, lifted it over the curb and gently set it down on the grass. It stayed on the grass, seeming to rest, and I left it be. I’m afraid it might have won the battle, only to lose the war. I hope that wasn’t the case and that it lived to fight another day.
Denise Vaillancourt is vice president of finance at the Forest Society.