Dispatched a copperhead yesterday. Feel bad about it.

Sep 19, 2019, 1:02 PM

Got a knock on the door, next door neighbor who is cleaning up his yard/house getting ready to put it on the market. "Just wanted to let you know, there's a copperhead headed towards your yard that I'm about to kill."

Alright, lemme put some shoes on and grab a shovel. This is only the second copperhead I've seen in my yard in 6+ years. The first one was a few years ago, as I was squatted in the side yard hosing off some grill parts. Looked down between my legs, and a baby copper, mebbe 12-14", was trying to scoot away. Was less than 2' away from me. Coppers are really docile, and you pretty much have to step on one to get it to strike, so I hesitate to kill them. They eat bugs and pests just like other nonvenomous sneks. I relocated that guy to a ditch a couple hundred yards away.

We cornered this guy yesterday behind a fence post next to my backyard. I started thinking about the dogs going in the backyard, and was like "fuggit, you get the shovel." Those things blend in so well that I've probably stepped over 20 more of them in my yard that I never saw over 6 years. I realize most people have no remorse about killing a copperhead, but it bothers me, for some reason. I'll ritually sacrifice and pike a cottonmouth and not think twice. Fortunately, I ain't encountered none of them recently.