A Missed Opportunity Concerning a C-C-C-Copperhead

A couple of weeks ago, I had a run-in with a rather formidable foe.  I was gathering the eggs that the hens had so graciously left me ...and as I came skipping around the side of the henhouse with my basket full of eggs in hand  (okay, so I really I was murmuring to myself about how the dang coop needed to be cleaned out again) ANYWAY, as I came around the side of the coop, I picked my flip-flop clad foot up, and   guess what lie before me????  

Yes!!  A c-c-c-c-copperhead!  I did a little body shiver, uttered an unrecognizable sound, and backpedaled it around the other side of the coop.  Luckily, my husband was home.  I ran to the house, banged on the window, and he came out and chopped it's head off with the hoe.
The next day, it occurred to me that "OH MY GOSH!!  The kids and I could have tried to drain its fangs in a cup."....you know, like they do on TV....it could have been a science lesson.  I searched and searched where my husband said he threw it in the woods, but, sadly, to no avail.  Which really irked me, if you must know.  I mean, it was the perfect opportunity and I was in such a hurry to get rid of it that I didn't think of the opportunities it afforded.  And I can't, in good conscience, hope to find another one....cause I have kids, ya know..  and besides, I might be a tiny bit afraid of copperheads.