Keep in mind, if this had been a national park instead of a state park, killing it would have been prohibited unless it was a unavoidable. (In fact, I asked the ranger at Fort Pulaski and he said they had killed a rattlesnake when it got into the fort itself, got stuck underneath the flooring, and got ticked off. It couldn't get out, they didn't have the correct tools to remove it, and, after a long day of it, they put it out of its misery because they knew it was going to eventually get out and bite someone.) Not so at a Georgia state park.
So, I join this eight-person redneck safari -- several rangers, several other rednecks, and their wives -- and we take a golf cart out to the wood pile. There's a pistol in the front seat but they're going to use a hoe to smack him. They keep quoting that idiotic Australian safari guy ("Croikies!").
The snake's in the wood pile. It seems like it wants to stay there. In my mind, this is a good thing. No, they decide to burn up the wood pile and scare him out. Needless to say, half of the people have cigarette lighters so a healthy (so to speak) fire starts burning. It's not happening quick enough for the Texan so he's pushing sticks in whenever he hears a rattle. Texans...
Eventually, the snake starts to come out and the ranger whacks him with a hoe. He breaks the snake's backbone just behind the neck. The Texan brags that the snake could still live another six hours. I ask the ranger if they're not going to kill the snake and put it out of its misery. The ranger takes out a hatchet and proceeds to behead the bug ...More...
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