It is such a blessing to grow and learn and feel the assistance of other species when you communicate with and understand them. Communication experiences can start on one level of understanding and then deepen and broaden to intimately include other areas of life that at first you didn’t see.
In my last post, I talked about snakes I had recently come across on my land, especially the encounter I had helping a rattlesnake who was caught in deer fence netting. Well, that was not to be my only encounter with this rattlesnake.
A Familiar Visitor My dog, Pepito, and I were coming back from our sunset walk. I went to hang up the walking stick that I now use to tap on the ground to warn snakes that we are near or in case of needing to keep a snake at a distance. Abruptly, I heard the now familiar fast buzzing sound of a rattlesnake’s vibrating tail. She was between the house and the cat run on the other side of the enclosure from where I stood about seven feet away.
I took Pepito indoors, closed the cat door inside, so the cats would not go out into the enclosure, and looked at the rattlesnake through the window. I recognized her as the one I had rescued a few weeks before. I wondered why she was here, coiled next to the house.
Photo of rattlesnake taken at twilight through window and screen Immediately after I formed that thought, I got the feeling and picture from her that she had been looking for me. She had not forgotten the human who helped her despite fear of being bitten. She explained that she would not normally come so close to human habitations, since humans were known to kill her kind. Despite her caution, she ventured next to my house and her purpose became clear.
She came to thank me for helping her. She had been entrapped and out in the desert sun for a while when I found her. She was losing strength in her struggle to get free of the netting and subject to being killed by predators. She felt she might die in that place. When I came along, she thought I would kill her. When she was free afterwards, she contemplated how a human could be how she never thought a human would be.
She wanted me to know how grateful she was to be alive because of me. She would not forget my kindness to her.
Hours later, when the cats wanted to go out in their enclosure, I checked with the rattlesnake to make sure she was not around. She assured me she had long gone and was far away from the house. As Chief Mama Cat, I double checked outside with a flashlight before I opened the cat door.
Communication Unfolds Over the course of the next few days, I realized further how the spirit of Snake had come as a protection and a help with situations that needed resolution with me and with animal family members. Not only did Snake appear in a shamanic journey to help us, but these record number of physical encounters were showing me how surrounded I was in Snake protection, love, strength, wisdom, and guidance. It all made sense. I felt such intimacy with my snake friends and gratitude for who they are as protectors of the land and keys in the balance of life.
Photo of rattlesnake taken at twilight through window and screen