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Where We Left Off:
Another animal with a broken off tail? What are the odds? Gus and Ollie looked into mystery of Buckgammon’s missing tail.
***Phobia Warning: dead snake story***
Blacktop Wasteland:
Technically, this case also involves an animal with a broken off tail! Only this time, the creature was dead when we found it. Gus, Oliver and I were outside in time to catch the beautiful blue and pink sunrise through the trees. We were expecting to see our deer friends, birds, and maybe a couple of the chipmunks. We began our expedition by going up the private road towards the forbidden property of the neighbors.
Gus led the way, as usual. Instead of approaching the large metal gate, he took the right towards the hangar and where the mobile command unit is parked. Even in the dim sunlight, we could see something bright against the black asphalt right next to the vibrant green grass.
Ollie shifted from his relaxed position to sit upright. He placed a hand on the front lip of his carriage and called out to Gus. “What’s over there? What is that thing?”
I steered Ollie to follow his leashed cousin to the mysterious object on the ground. Gus leaned in to the thing. “It’s a small dead snake. Not particularly fresh either.”
“Move your head. Let me see,” Ollie said.
I pushed Ollie’s buggy as close to the specimen as possible.
Victimology:
I did my job of taking measurements which was hindered by the stiffened state of the body. I didn’t have a flexible measuring tape so I approached the task by measuring segments of the curved body. Once tallied, it was approximately between 8-9 inches (20-23 cm) long.
Based on the damage to the body and the insect activity, we were dealing with a homicide from the previous evening. The victim’s body was stiff, unable to be straightened. It was also fragile at the most damaged sites. The thinnest two inches of tail stuck to the pavement when the body was lifted for examination. There was some insect activity—mostly black ants were noted.
I required further confirmation about the species, so I turned to Gus and his enhanced olfactory sense. “Gus, is that a common garter snake or a baby Gorgon? We have to know for sure.”
“You want me to smell the very dead thing again?”
“Please.”
Gus returned from his somewhat safe distance from the odor which I could not detect. I moved the buggy a few inches to give the other cat detective space to do his job.
After only seconds, Gus backed away again from the body. “Mundane. I don’t detect any otherworldly or maging traces.”
We had part of our answers: Not a Gorgon. That was good news in a way because killing a baby Gorgon would cause the creatures to surface and seek revenge.
Despite this victim being a mundane realm snake, it was still a newborn. It was August 2, 2026 when we discovered the body. That might not be “late summer,” yet it is not an unusual time for the live young to be born. What’s most astonishing is the number of babies in a litter. I’ve read various websites that range from 4-50 babies in a single litter!
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Species: Eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) Age: newborn Cause of death: homicide (not natural causes) |
“Look at that damage to the body,” Ollie said. “You can tell that some of it is from the insects feeding off the corpse, but particularly the way the tail was impacted into the road, it looks like a crushing injury could be the cause of death.”
Gus walked away to search for any possible witnesses while Ollie and I moved out of the cresting sunrise glare into the building.
“Did you notice that the most trauma to the body was the last four inches? I suspect that gaping wound might have been caused post-mortem by the insects,” he said.
I thought about his observation. Did that four inches mean the crushing object was only that wide or that it could have been much wider and clipped the snake as it tried to move out of the way?
“Ollie, would you lean more towards the COD being stepped on by a large-booted human or rolled over by a vehicle?” I asked him.
Inside the mechanic’s area, there were a lot of machines and carts that had wheels, not to mention the vehicles actually driven up and down the road. I called for Gus to come join us and find out if he found any witnesses.
“I got nada, zilch, absolutely nothing useful out of those mourning doves,” Gus said. “All the birds out there now were likely asleep during the time of death.”
Ollie interrupted the update. “That’s OK. I think I found the weapon.”
From inside his carriage and through all the grassy aroma, Ollie picked up an important clue. He was able to detect a fine musky scent coming off of a lawn mower tire. Gus jumped off one of the other mowers and came over to confirm.
“That’s same musky scent from the body,” Gus said.
And with that match, we knew what happened.
Case Findings:
Early in the morning on August 2, 2026, Ollie and Gus discovered the stiff body of a newborn Eastern garter snake at the edge of the upper parking lot right next to where the grass begins. We took measurements and photos. Identifying scents were noted by the Biographer.
The team did a physical examination of the corpse without a necropsy. Factoring in the rigor mortis and insect activity, we knew that the time of death was the previous night. We could also determine by the bodily trauma that this was not natural causes.
The case was ruled a homicide. Gus and Ollie traced the same musk back to a tire on a ride-on lawn mower driven only by one person: The Grumpy Old Man. He’s a human known to be kind to harmless snakes. This was obviously accidental.
Case Status: Closed