Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Real Life Drama

Here's a bit of unintended wild adventure I spotted at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last year. This little finch had found a snake, or perhaps the snake found him, I don't know. I came across the events already in progress, but I stuck around for a bit.

These two seemed to be in a knock-down drag-out for dear life. The bird didn't seem to know that he should try to grab the snake right behind the head, so he wound up getting nipped a couple of times.

But the bird had the advantage of flight. When things got a little hairy, he'd take off into the air! Unfortunately, it didn't go on for too long. A group of tween girls showed up, and they broke up the action. I couldn't tell if they felt sorry for the bird or the snake, or if they just didn't like true-life adventures very much. But there wasn't anything to shoot after they arrived.

I don't know what kind of snake this was, but he sure does have some nice markings. If he were a little darker and maybe a little bigger I'd think rattlesnake, but his head's not shaped right, either. I'm sure someone out there will let me know what this is exactly.