On a hill near Woodland Park, an old rancher named Toby Wells stumbled across something that stopped him in his tracks.A curved, striped, 6-foot-long figure lay silently before him, still as dead wood.The rancher took his walking stick and prodded the smooth surface. Satisfied that it wasn’t alive, he carried the prize home and locked it away. That was about four months ago.“It’s a real eye-catcher if you see it,” he said. “It’s really neat when you find something like this in Mother Nature. It blows your mind away.”Wells’ story is that he found a creature not seen since the disappearance of the buffalo: the legendary Rocky Mountain Deersnake.The key word here is “legendary,” much like the “legendary” unicorn.“It’s kind of like a jackalope,” he said.But he’ll say no more. He wants people to come to Woodland Park’s Mainstreet Makeover celebration on Saturday so they can see it for themselves. (Hint: You can leave the snakebite kit at home.)The event is the culmination of a downtown renovation project. Afterward the Rocky Mountain Deersnake will be on display at Cowbell’s, a retail store in the renovation area where Wells is a woodwork artist.

DETAILSWHAT: Mainstreet Makeover celebrationWHEN: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. SaturdayETC.: The event includes music, firetruck rides and pictures with firefighters, face painting, panning for gold, balloon rides and digging for turquoise. Food vendors will be on site. The “Rocky Mountain Deersnake” will be unveiled at 6:30 p.m., followed by a street dance. Fireworks display at 9 p.m. For more information, go to www.mainstreetmakeover.org.