The Colbus

The little men headed back along the deer trail, which ran east to west through deep thickets at the edge of the swamp. The narrow path then led them up out of the valley into an open area of old pines with a well lit under-story consisting of tall grasses.  Here they stopped to look at a group of moccasin flowers (1). The pink blossoms were highly regarded by the Nubbins, who knew that many of these flowers were taken by the tall ones to add to their gardens.  

After bowing to the blooms, they went on their way, soon to come upon an adult quild (2), who was followed by several very young birds. The older male welcomed the men with its call of “bob-white.” These chicken-like birds of the open forest and field were no longer plentiful as they had once been. The immature birds in this group numbered just four, so the men knew a portion of the brood was likely taken by some predator, as the quild usually have a dozen or more in one hatching. The female may have been taken as well, but with any luck she was sitting on a new brood. They stepped aside off the path, as the small covey headed down hill.   

 © Jarek Tuszynski / Wikimedia Commons /
CC-BY-SA-3.0 & GDFL , via Wikimedia Commons

The patrol went on along the ridge, and then descended down the west slope. Here the thickets once again closed in, and they were now walking through a tunnel of heavy vegetation. Finally they found him slithering through the uppers branches of the blueberry. This Colbus (3) was very large, almost seven feet in length. Each spring the men would visit this place to pay homage to the snake, which could climb so well. They knew the creature was searching the brush for the nests of unsuspecting birds, for it seemed to favor eggs at this time of year. The black snake would also seek out rodents and use its heavy long body to coil around them till they were lifeless. For most this is not a pleasant sight to watch, but for our Nubbins, it was life as it was meant to be.   

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(1) Moccasin flower is another named for Pink Lady Slipper, now threatened in many areas.

(2) Quild is the Nubbin term for the Northern Bobwhite (Quail). Origin of quild unknown.

(3) Colbus is another Nubbin term for which we could find no origin, but it is the name given to the northern black snake.