Rudy

Riley's removal from camp did not mean an end to our rattlesnake visitors; as soon as Riley left, Rudy moved in. Rudy is a baby rattlesnake, and kind of cute. The problem is he is far more dangerous- unlike adult snakes, when baby ones bite someone and release their venom, they don't know how to stop the flow, and inject all of it into their victim.

Rudy also had a very bad habit of not only being content to lie by the med tent, but he actually managed to slither his way inside. We would never really know where he is, unlike Riley he liked the indoors and to keep everyone in suspense. Unfortunately, it led to his very premature, tragic and rather grisly end.

A group of migrants we were with saw him moving by the medical tent one evening, and they also happened to be sleeping there. When he slithered out again, they asked if they could kill him. There was some division among this in our group, with some volunteers supporting the motion and others opposing. I supported it, there was no way I'd be comfortable having our guests sleep with the possibility of getting poisoned, they faced enough already. RJ was nowhere around, so we decided it would be okay to kill. The migrants and those of us who supported killing it made a large circle around it, then one of our guests smashed it over the head with a shovel. It took several blows, and Rudy was no more.

I felt kind of bad for it, but believe it was the only thing that could have been done in the situation. I have respect for God's animal creation, but when it is a matter of human life I believe there is no question where priorities are to be made.