The other day, I went for a late afternoon kayak. It was one of those glorious September days when the sun feels warm on your skin, the air is still and there is just a hint of colour in the leaves.

I watched the baby loons (our loons had two babies this year) being fed fish by their mother and mewing for more and the seagulls floating in the breeze, and kept paddling through the two channels into the back lake.

As I was sitting basking in the afternoon sun, I started to hear a rustling sound come from behind me. I’ve heard this sound before when a snake stowed away in my kayak.

I decided to adopt the strategy of pretending I didn’t hear anything even though I was pretty sure at this point it wasn’t a solo kayak trip.

The strategy was working just fine until my snake friend decided to make an appearance and slither past me under my life jacket towards the front of the boat.

I like snakes and I’ve been around them enough to know that they won’t hurt you if you just leave them alone. This guy was a harmless garter snake, but he clearly was a little put out that he was trapped in a moving hollow tube with no means of escape.

I didn’t see him for a few minutes, so went back to pretending he wasn’t there, until he started gliding towards me head first with his little red tongue wagging at me. His green and black silk body brushed the side of my leg and just as I started to stiffen, wondering what he was going to do next, something spooked him and he ducked under my life jacket again.

I paddled faster.

The next time he came out he slithered even farther up my leg, right to the top of my thighs, until he was almost resting on my lap, his beady little eyes looking up at me as if to say “You better get me out of this boat or else”. This was a little too close for comfort for my liking, and as I was planning my next move, he slid over my leg towards the back of the kayak.

I didn’t see him again for the rest of the trip.

Sometimes the best strategy is to just pretend you didn’t hear anything.

And if that fails and reality slithers up your leg, stay calm, breathe deeply, and paddle like hell.

My snake friend finally escapes to land, and below, happy in his regular home amongst the weeds, looking for frogs.