First, don't be silly, Crazed.
tr.v. pro·voked, pro·vok·ing, pro·vokes
1. To incite to anger or resentment.
2. To stir to action or feeling.
3. To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter.
4. To bring about deliberately; induce: provoke a fight.
You provoked the bird by being there causing it to "stir to action" and take flight.
Secondly, you obviously don't know the shirt trick. You put the shirt over the head of the snake and use something else, (besides your hand) like a stick, to pick it up and move it. Don't you ever watch Animal Planet? And no, I wouldn't recommend doing that, but it is an option. There are other ways. Put the shirt over the snakes head and force it into a thick enough sack and carry it off. There are plenty of tricks and ways that you can use to move the snake without having to kill it.