Extra Reading: Cherokee Myths

The Ustû'tlï
A great snake named Ustû'tlï lived on the Cohutta Mountain. Ustû'tlï means foot. This snake didn't slither like a normal snake would. It had feet on either end of it body that it used to move in jerky movements. The feet of the snake had suction cups and were 3 cornered. It would raise up on its hind feet and allow its head to sway in the wind until it could bend and put its front feet on the ground. The snakes foot prints would signal danger. It was not able to walk beside a ridge because of the jerky movements that it takes to walk. Hunters were too afraid to go hunt for meat on the Cohutta Mountain because of the Ustutli. A feast that was held for one of the northern settlements but only had corn and rice to eat. The man that was visiting from the north insisted that he go hunt for meat or the Ustutli. The village tried to stop him but he insisted on going. They told him he hears a fawn bleat to run but not down the mountain because the Ustutli can go down mountains, but to run along a ridge.
On his journey in the morning he heard a fawn bleat. The man continued to go toward the sound and saw the Ustutli. The snake would make great strides the size of tree trunks toward the man. Scared, the man took off up the mountain but the snake was faster. Just as the man was about to be caught by the snake, he remembered the warning and ran to find a ridge. The snake's movements sent the snake down the ridge allowing the man to get away down the mountain. At the base of the mountain the man set the grass on fire. All the grass, the trees, and the soon the Ustutli burned on the mountain and left nothing but ashes.

A Garter Snake. Source