Perhaps this alternative method will help.
Here's what I do with corn snakes, or any other snake I come across unexpectedly. (Actually if I come across a snake, it is unexpected in all cases, because if I expect to come across a snake, I fish somewhere else.)
I find this method (or series of methods) confuses the snake and offers me comfort and protection.
When I first come across a snake (and it is always unexpected for reasons I have explained), I go into “Phase number 1”, a “modified stationary panic”, or MSP, which I first heard about through the writings of Pat McManus.
PHASE 1.
The Modified stationary panic or MSP, is where I instantly drop everything in my hands and begin running in place while I flap my arms up and down as though I were flying. I begin taking deep breaths and exhaling through my pursed lips to make sort of snorting sounds (much like the sound you would expect from a combination of a hysterical ballet dancer and a frightened water buffalo being eaten alive by a pride of lions). On one occasion, I actually flapped my arms fast enough, that I began to gain some altitude.
Most times, the initiation of Phase 1 is enough to give the snake time to slither away.
I decide my next method of response in anywhere from 1/10 to .5 seconds.
PHASE II
Had the snake not vanished within the half second time frame from the beginning of Phase 1, I begin Phase two, where the snorting sound is replaced with an abbreviation of the words “oh $hit!”. These words come out, and have been described to me, as “OSHT! OSHT! OSHT! OSHT”! They must me emitted at a high decibel level, similar to the sound of a steam locomotive starting up, as on occasion the snake may not hear your exclamations and become caught beneath your feet while running in place, which adds anxiety to both you and the snake.
Usually the description of the sounds I make are not told to me for some time after the snake is well gone from the area, and whoever I had been walking with has stopped their annoying fits of laughter enough to say “You was yelling OSHT! OSHT!” You was trying to fly!!YAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”
In response my thoughts are usually (yada yada yada, whatever?)
PAHSE III
To continue the instructions:
Should the snake remain in the area, in combination with the sounds I emit during Phase 2, I begin to run in the opposite direction I had been traveling prior to the “encounter” and go directly into Phase III, the Ricochet Panic Mode or “RPM”. This is where I reverse direction in mid-air and begin running as fast as I can in the opposite direction of my original travel, “with my eyes closed!”
The closing of the eyes is a comforting movement which any psychiatrist will recommend; “in moments of high stress you should picture your happy place”. Unfortunately little is written concerning the combination of running full blast and visiting one’s happy place. From experience I and Mr. McManus, have discovered it leads to the naming of this phrase, i.e. “ricochet”.
Running full blast with your eyes closed often results in one running into and bouncing off trees, rocks, hikers, and the like. As the definition of ricochet is the bouncing from one thing to another, it explains the name of Phase III The Ricochet Panic Mode. This phase has been used for centuries and has been found to be successful in most cases.
There is an alternate RPM (Ricochet Panic Mode) or Phase III, which is quite comforting and can work to your benefit. After reversing direction and beginning at the first ricochet, begin emitting a very loud piercing scream such as that used repeatedly on the sound set of the movie “Halloween”. If you can maintain that intensity and pitch until reaching your vehicle or your home, you will accomplish the perfect “cover story’. For certainly anyone seeing you ricocheting down the trail, screaming for dear life, will immediately follow, if not pass you. (Some of them may not have a good psychiatrist and will run with their eyes open, thus missing the fun of ricocheting.) This is good, for when you exit the area, you can say you were only following them.
If you are lucky, you can stop your travels after ricocheting off of your own vehicle. Should you miss your vehicle, the best method of recovery is to return the following day with a “good friend” who isn’t afraid of snakes and can recover the tackle you dropped at the beginning of Phase 1. Explain to your friend that you had been chased by wolves and after fighting them off with a stick, managed to get home late at night.
I have personally discovered, should you find yourself lying near your vehicle at the end of Phase III, it is best to just enter it and slowly drive to the nearest liquor store. There you will purchase enough alcohol so when you return to pick up your fishing partner;
1. he or she should have stopped laughing.
2. You can bribe them to not mention this very minor incident to anyone else.
(I do not recommend leaving them behind as the stories they will tell when they get home will never end, and in fact grow every year. )
I hope this helps.