Snake Kill

TommyG

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Was out yesterday at Harris Hill Road in San Marcos testing out my new alignment specs and rake adjustment that I had done this week. It was a perfect weather day in the low 70's and clear.

I am cruising through the course when I see a black shiny area on the road and my first thought is the car ahead was spilling somthing like oil so I stay clear. Just as I approach, I see a head come up and the the shiny black starts to sliver across the road. It looked huge and like a rattler.

I figure, we don't need poison snakes off track just in case someone gets the scare of there lives while going off track and perhaps getting out of the car, so I tell myself if the snake is still on the road my next pass, it will have to face a match with my red snake.

Sure enough it is still there and so I aim and feel the hit. Boy I was supprised at how the car jumped up when front/rear tires made contact on this thing. I am glad I was preppared because it I had not been, and was comming into the turn hot, it sure would have thrown the car off.

One of the workers goes out with a shovel and when he comes back in, he tells me it was a 4+ foot Rat Snake. I feel kinda bad at this point because I would have left it alone, if I did not think it was a rattler or some other poison type snake.

He then tells me that I avenged a mother bunny rabbit as the snake had just swallowed up some 10 tiny weeny baby rabbits and must have been out for a crawl to try and digest its luch. I guess that explains the double thud I felt when I drove over it.
 

dsg03svt

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Tell me more about this harris hill road. I'm in San Antonio as well and just picked up an 04. I'd love to get some experience on a road course as I've only done the strip a few times in past cars...

O and good kill. Any bunny killer deserves to be splattered by a 3000+ pound vehicle
 
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TommyG

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Tell me more about this harris hill road. I'm in San Antonio as well and just picked up an 04. I'd love to get some experience on a road course as I've only done the strip a few times in past cars...

O and good kill. Any bunny killer deserves to be splattered by a 3000+ pound vehicle


LOL. Harris Hill Road. PM me and give me your cell and I would be happy to take you out for a complimentary intro where I can introduce you to the guys that run the track and they will take you out in your car and show you some basic pointers to the track.

It's a 35-45 min drive for me and I try hit the track for a 2 hour session at least twice a month. Lots of fun and good folks and best of all no walls to run into if you get SNAKE BIT.

I would call it more of a technical course with only one straight that you might get up to 110 mph before you need to slow down for a slow right hander. Great club house.
 

dsg03svt

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LOL. Harris Hill Road. PM me and give me your cell and I would be happy to take you out for a complimentary intro where I can introduce you to the guys that run the track and they will take you out in your car and show you some basic pointers to the track.

It's a 35-45 min drive for me and I try hit the track for a 2 hour session at least twice a month. Lots of fun and good folks and best of all no walls to run into if you get SNAKE BIT.

I would call it more of a technical course with only one straight that you might get up to 110 mph before you need to slow down for a slow right hander. Great club house.

Seems like a ton of fun. I noticed you have to purchase a membership and pay monthly dues. Is there a way you can just pay per visit? Not sure I'd use it enough to justify the cost...
 

CarDude

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Was out yesterday at Harris Hill Road in San Marcos testing out my new alignment specs and rake adjustment that I had done this week. It was a perfect weather day in the low 70's and clear.

I am cruising through the course when I see a black shiny area on the road and my first thought is the car ahead was spilling somthing like oil so I stay clear. Just as I approach, I see a head come up and the the shiny black starts to sliver across the road. It looked huge and like a rattler.

I figure, we don't need poison snakes off track just in case someone gets the scare of there lives while going off track and perhaps getting out of the car, so I tell myself if the snake is still on the road my next pass, it will have to face a match with my red snake.

Sure enough it is still there and so I aim and feel the hit. Boy I was supprised at how the car jumped up when front/rear tires made contact on this thing. I am glad I was preppared because it I had not been, and was comming into the turn hot, it sure would have thrown the car off.

One of the workers goes out with a shovel and when he comes back in, he tells me it was a 4+ foot Rat Snake. I feel kinda bad at this point because I would have left it alone, if I did not think it was a rattler or some other poison type snake.

He then tells me that I avenged a mother bunny rabbit as the snake had just swallowed up some 10 tiny weeny baby rabbits and must have been out for a crawl to try and digest its luch. I guess that explains the double thud I felt when I drove over it.

I was there a couple weeks ago and someone hit a turtle, so a fox thought he would help clean the track...we almost hit the fox twice. :omg:
 

Dom426h

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haha, nice story. I would have been concerned about getting splattered with gutts. you might have a few bunnies stuck in your wheelwells:)

Last trackday at NJMP we had a turtle crossing the track right at the tightest turn on the course:omg:

So let this be a lesson to all. I see how some could assume that a racetrack is clean with no obticles,
but in reality anything can pop up... :pigsfly: :mf: :dog: :horse:
 
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TommyG

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Seems like a ton of fun. I noticed you have to purchase a membership and pay monthly dues. Is there a way you can just pay per visit? Not sure I'd use it enough to justify the cost...


Only way around membership is going with a car club like Porsche Club or others for a 1 or 2 day DE. I have seen and met several very nice Snake owners at 2 PCA events in the past year.
 
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TommyG

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I was there a couple weeks ago and someone hit a turtle, so a fox thought he would help clean the track...we almost hit the fox twice. :omg:


Interesting, I did not know we had Foxes around that part of Texas. Could it have been a Coyote?
 

okloneranger

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What you probably hit was a black snake. Rattlers are lighter in color with a pattern. Black snakes eat rats, mice, moles, and gophers among other critters. So many people kill them because they fear all snakes. Now we have a imbalance of moles and gophers, at least here in Oklahoma. Black snakes are more afraid of people than people are of them. I say live and let live, unless they are a threat. MHO
 

Bandit3

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As oklone said, it probably was a black snake, which I've learned is a good one. They are gentle if not abused and will eat the bad snakes.
Being from the city and now living in Georgia for years I always thought all snakes were bad ones except a dead one, I was taught these are the good ones. Good to have around. They also eat the poisonous snakes
 

CarDude

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Interesting, I did not know we had Foxes around that part of Texas. Could it have been a Coyote?

Pretty sure it was a fox...wait I think I had my video on in my car. I will check in a few days. I need to get the info off the trackmate.

I would swear it was red and had a fluffy tail.
 
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