New Zealand has no snakes, so it was exciting for New Zealander Ken to visit the snake section of a zoo in North Carolina.
The zoo lady took a snake out of it glass compound and Ken was allowed to touch it.
“I thought it would be slimly like an eel,” said Ken. But it wasn’t. It had scales.
“This one is harmless,” said the zoo lady. “But this one over here is a copperhead. You won’t want to say hello to one of those in the wild. This one has had its venom removed. If it hadn’t, it could kill you.” She picked the copperhead up and presented it to Ken. He wasn’t sure if he was meant to stroke it like a cat or pat it on the head like a baby. He was glad when she took it back.
While in North Carolina, Ken was staying with family friends. A few days later (his friends were in town for the day) he mowed their lawn for them. They had a ride-on. As he drove the ride-on down the lawn, there in front of him poised to strike, was a copperhead. Ken screeched the ride-on to a halt.
That was a mistake.