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| Foggy morning on the air boat |
So for the first time ever I have been on a project that
requires me basically to spend my day riding around in air boats up and down
the bayous of the swamps in Louisiana. Let me just tell you, it’s seriously a
blast! I honestly feel like I'm on swamp tour every day. Like I’m out there
working but I'm also watching the birds fly overhead, observing alligators
resting on the logs and the admiring the ancient cypress trees that are so
tall, the tops are barely discernible. The thrill of the wind whipping through
your hair as you glide across the water is so exhilarating it makes my job not
feel like work. Haven’t had any scary alligator encounters but I did have a
snakes event that was definitely intense.
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| Baby alligator I saw in the field |
My job is to go see if there’s any archaeological sites in
the high probability areas which are define using multiple different probability
factors such as elevation, access to fresh water, etc. Well one day I was
walking out to one of these areas in a high part that was not covered in water.
I hadn’t seen any venomous snakes or alligators while I was out of the boat but
I was on my 007 mode ready to run! Well I get all the way to my intended
destination, take a gps point and look for my next destination. The second one
looked like it was through fairly deep, hip waist high water so I was decided
to turn around and head back for the boat. Instead of following the meandering
trail I had taken to the point I went straight for shore and decided it would
be easier to walk up to the boat that way. When I'm out there in the swamps I
take my time walking so I don’t step on any snakes or any other creature that
can harm me. Good thing too because as I was walking up the bank toward the
boat I stirred up a 2.5 foot long cottonmouth snake! He uncoiled just enough to
get into a strike position! He moved so fast he appeared to me to be in slow
motion. I shrieked and jumped back about 5 feet so I can see where he was going
to go. Some venomous snakes are known to chase you so I wasn’t sure if he was
feeling up to it or not. So I pause after I jumped away to see if he was
slithering near me or coming at me, etc. My luck he probably went in the
direction of the boat where I needed to go so I called my boat driver down and
he came to pick me up.
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| Cottonmouth |
Once I was back in the boat I was a bit shaken and my
adrenaline was pumping but I felt safer now I wasn’t on land. I shook out my life
vest, (I'm not a fan of caterpillers or inchworms or anything without a
vertebre/exo-skeleton), and put it on. When I looked down to grab my bag and
put it away I noticed sticking out underneath it was ANOTHER SNAKE! I yelled to
my boat driver, “Shit, there’s a fucking snake in the boat!” and when he looked
down he jumped straight onto my seat! It was a copperhead!!! This one was a
little over a foot long, which is worse because a baby snake doesn’t know how
much venom to use if it bites you. I jumped onto the side railing of the boat
and we took a second to look for a long enough stick to get the snake out the
boat. Luckily we happened to have one of the bamboo sticks the surveyors use to
make their points and my driver expediently removed the snake from the boat. I
made sure to shake out my bag in case any of his friends were trying to tag a
ride with me back to the hotel.
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| Copperhead |
Even with the snakes and all the crazy things, branches
falling on you from building size cypress trees, this is probably the most fun
I’ve had on a job in a long time.
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| Cypress tree with moss |
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