From Jennifer Gordon

Someone attacked this snake with a shovel, severing his spine. Somehow, he managed to make his way to our rescue.

I write about snakes a lot. Particularly copperheads, which seem to bring out some pretty strong opinions in people.

But there's a reason I gravitate toward snakes.

They're probably some of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. And after more than two decades of rescuing animals, I've come to realize that people are often the cause of the very problems we're trying to solve.

Writing about these experiences has become somewhat cathartic for me.

For years, I kept so much of what I witnessed bottled up inside. Eventually, I realized how unhealthy that was, and I started writing about the things I encountered in my work.

As it turns out, we have some pretty interesting stories to tell.

Like this one.

Meet one of our eastern ratsnakes, formerly known as black ratsnakes.

I'm not exactly sure who gets to make all these decisions about renaming animals, but apparently someone decided that ratsnakes needed different names depending on where they live.

Because, you know, a ratsnake is a ratsnake. 😂

Anyway, I digress.

I've always had a particular fondness for these snakes.

I understand that people fear venomous snakes, even though I could never bring myself to kill an animal simply because I didn't understand it or was afraid of it.

But ratsnakes?

They're genuinely some of the gentlest creatures I've ever encountered.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've met a few feisty ones over the years, and any wild animal can become defensive when frightened, harassed, or threatened.

But I've encountered completely wild ratsnakes that were perfectly content to rest around my shoulders while I walked around.

They're fascinating animals.

And this particular snake has quite a story.

Somewhere near our rescue, we believe someone attacked him with a shovel.

The injury was devastating.

The back portion of his spine was completely severed.

And somehow, despite that injury, he managed to slither onto our rescue property.

One of our staff members spotted him, recognized that something was terribly wrong, and immediately brought him into our veterinary clinic.

I still find it remarkable that he was able to make his way to us.

And here's where his story gets even more interesting.

Despite the spinal injury, he can still move the back half of his body.

He can eat small meals, digest his food, and defecate.

Larger meals are more difficult for him because of the scar tissue surrounding the injury, but he's managing remarkably well considering what happened to him.

We recently brought him in for another evaluation while we were performing surgeries to see whether there might be an opportunity to do some corrective work.

Unfortunately, he's not quite ready for that yet.

Because of the severity of his injury, he'll never be released back into the wild.

But what strikes me most about this snake isn't just his ability to survive.

It's his temperament.

He is one of the gentlest ratsnakes I've ever encountered.

Even after everything he's been through, he's remarkably calm when we're caring for him.

I know people sometimes roll their eyes when I talk about snakes as though they have personalities. But spend enough time working with them, and you begin to appreciate just how different they can be from one another.

I can't tell you what this snake thinks about the people caring for him.

But I can tell you that he's safe here.

He's receiving medical care, he's eating, and we're continuing to evaluate what we can do to improve his quality of life.

And yes, he's loved.

I often wonder what goes through someone's mind when they pick up a shovel and attack an animal that was simply trying to exist.

I understand fear.

What I don't understand is cruelty.

This snake wasn't looking for a fight. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He was simply going about his life until someone decided that his life didn't matter.

And somehow, he survived.

He may never return to the wild, but his story isn't over.