A Lighter View
Wearing of the green…or orange or blue...
By K.E.H. Stagg

March 19, 2009

Although most people associate St. Patrick’s Day with wearing green or orange—two of the three color blocks on the Irish flag—and more closely tied to religion affiliation than nationality, it’s blue that was originally associated with the patron saint of anti-snakedom. I wonder why, but I’m not going to argue because anyone who can single-handedly eradicate an entire country of its reptile population can claim any color of the rainbow as far as I’m concerned!

I’m sure Dillsburg has at least one herpetologist already rising up in outrage over my apparent lack of concern for the animal kingdom’s slithering creatures, but I’m standing my ground. And I’m pretty sure that anyone else who’s been chased down by a snake and lived to tell about it will stand next to me. As will those who’ve strolled the Appalachian Trail and stumbled—literally —onto a rattler sunning itself on a rock or in a crevasse.

One of the many attractions of the greater Dillsburg area is its relative dearth of serpents. I’m still trying to reassure myself that garter snakes and milk snakes are harmless and serve a useful purpose, but I’m a lot harder to convince that piles of rattlers are essential components of a balanced ecosystem. Having been raised in a country where sea snakes, cobras and pit vipers, to name a few of the potentially venomous members of the Elipidae family, called dibs on the same ground my house was built, I admit to possible prejudice on this subject.

In fact, it’s my personal belief that the drinking that’s come to be synonymous with all celebrants of “Irish for a day” isn’t a carryover from the Roman festival to Bacchus, the god of wine. A close encounter with snakes is far more likely to drive any otherwise-sane person to drink, and it’s impossible to fault the wracked nerves that could trigger alcoholic excess in such cases.

Of course, there’s no excuse anymore. The Emerald Isle has been snake-free for centuries, and those of us living outside Ireland can’t really claim to be traumatized by the prospect of a close encounter of the creepy kind.

The man responsible for the defeat of snakes deserves to wear green, orange, blue; bits of plant life; a man’s skirt; pretty much anything he wants. Three cheers for Patrick! Erin go bragh!