Jackson’s snake adventure

Editor’s note: Jackson Eby is the son of Jeremy and Cherish Eby. The 9-year-old third-grader at Greencastle-Antrim Elementary School recently had a special adventure and shared it in his own words.

“My dad and I went near Antrim Township Park because I like to explore in the woods.  That morning I was looking for deer sheds (old horns that fall off of deer) because I like to collect them. I was walking in the snow near a stream and saw movement slithering towards the water. I did not want to kill it so I just threw a stone so that I could pick it up with a stick.  I knew it was a snake but it looked almost too big for a garter snake, but It WAS a garter snake, about three feet long, green, black and a neon yellow.  My dad and I think it was so big and thick, especially in the middle, because she was carrying babies. I wasn't really scared, because I have seen snakes, not quite this big, sometimes in the woods near my  house. I left the snake at the park where I found it.”