The day we nearly died

Six months in and it's finally happened. We've encountered our first snake! It was a good 10 to 15 centimeters long and, although it can't be confirmed that he was poisonous, had a look in its eye that said "you don't want to be coming any closer pal". Ironically I'd nearly stepped on the fella thinking it was a small stick, but thankfully my razor sharp instinct told me otherwise. I jumped into a defensive stance and told Clare to stop moving, knowing that any sudden movements could send this potential killing machine into a wild frenzy. Clare looking somewhat bemused, looked at me, then the snake, and then back at me. We had to get past and only careful and slights movements would ensure our safety. "Just slowly walk around the edge of him" I said. I demonstrated this by slowly sliding round the other edge of the path and past the snake. Clare was a little more blase about the situation, strode past him saying "Isn't he cute". Once she was safely past we continued walking. Both I and the snake exchanged glances knowing that today was not a good day to die.