perhaps 25 years ago I was parked by the Pecos on Hwy. 90, reading a book and waiting for sunset. While I was waiting a cabover camper pulled up and I got talking with the occupants. They were a very nice couple from England who, every 2 years, went somewhere new to view wildlife. This year they were heading to the Big Bend. Since it was getting late I invited them to spend the night in Langtry where they could hook up their camper. We had a casual supper and then I suggested that, if they wanted to see wildlife, they might ride with me for a while. We started off going up Pandale dirt for a few miles. It was one of those magical nights when all sorts of things were seen. Deer, raccoons, porcupines, vinegaroons, scorpions, tarantulas, even the rintails just strolled across the road affording a good view. Owls were also seen.
Then we headed west on 90 to the top of the big hill. I should mention that I had given the guy my spotlight so he could see things, and he saw a lot, but we hadn't seen any snakes. As we were going eastward down the big hill he was shining the light all over the place and I was sure he wouldn't see anything but deeer and rabbits. I was driving slowly on the shoulder when he said "Oh, there's a big one." I continued driving and asked "A big what? Deer?" He repled "No, I think it is a snake, although I've never seen a snake in the wild before."
I figured it had to be a big suboc or bullsnake if he had seen it so I casually u-turned, went back past where he had seen it and started driving on the shoulder again. Then he said "Oh, There it is." but I saw nothing so I got out of the car to find that he had spotted a dark phase blairs crawling through the grass. 10:10PM, 88F, 20" medium male, black head)
A while later they decided to call it quits so they could get an early start. When I got them back to their camper he asked, since it was the first snake he had found in the wild, would I mind if he took another look at it. I said no and opened the pillowcase it was in. I need to mention here that the levis I was wereing had lost the stitching in that small section between the fly and the crotch so there was a small opening there. I reachedinto the bag, pulled out the snake and it IMMEDIATELY bee-lined into the hole in the pants. I grabbed it by the back end and the snake prompytly grabbed onto my butt and started chewing.
There I was, jumping up and down, 8" of gray and orange tail flopping in my hand in front of the fly, yelling "this SOB is chewing on my butt." The Brits were actually rolling on the ground laughing and I'm sure this was the highlight of their trip to the states.
I then released the tail of the snake, he relased my butt, slid down the leg to the ground and was recaptured.
