Kathie in Thorp
Well-known member
I don't dislike snakes -- I HATE snakes. I don't care what kind, how big they are, or any of that. I HATE 'em!! Snakes, grizzly bears, sharks with big teeth, wasps, flies and chiggers are on this earth just to torment humans -- that's my opinion. :yuck:
Last weekend, I stepped off the front porch, onto the walk, and there was a snake just off to the side of the walk. About a foot long. I retreated quickly into the house, hollering for my gun-toting hero -- who informed me that it might look like a rattler, but he was sure it was a bull snake -- a good snake that kills rattlers, mice, moles, etc. (We've never found a rattler on the place, but the neighbor had a couple baby rattlers on his sidewalk last year. I DO know what a garter snake looks like, and tolerate them from a distance.) He would not defend my honor and kill the snake. So I went back in the house for a couple hours and gave the "good" snake plenty of time to move along.
So, as I get to our locked driveway gate tonight, I grab the key off the rear-view mirror, glance out the driver's side window -- and there's about a 3-foot version of last week's snake, sunning on the gravel, just outside my door. "Well, craap!" I have nothing inside the car to throw outside at the snake. I can't see his tail -- that part is in the grass. "Well, craap -- nobody's home or the gate wouldn't be locked! And I'm not 'gonna just sit here and wait for somebody to show up and rescue me!" So I back up the Jeep, guesstimate where that thing is, and go forward; and then backward. And when I look again, snake isn't there -- blood spot, but no snake! "Well, craap!!!!" But putting on my brave face, I get out, look carefully around, quickly pull the gates open, dive back into the Jeep and get myself safely to the house over rough enough gravel that I hope the thing dislodges itself if it's stuck on a tire.
Gun-toting hero just got home, and was not amused by my story. "Craap!!" he said. "You probably killed one a those good big dam bullsnakes! They kill rattlers, and . . . . . . . . . . . . . (and more expletives)."
Oh, well . . . . I feel much safer now. Much better, too. Hero will get over it.
Last weekend, I stepped off the front porch, onto the walk, and there was a snake just off to the side of the walk. About a foot long. I retreated quickly into the house, hollering for my gun-toting hero -- who informed me that it might look like a rattler, but he was sure it was a bull snake -- a good snake that kills rattlers, mice, moles, etc. (We've never found a rattler on the place, but the neighbor had a couple baby rattlers on his sidewalk last year. I DO know what a garter snake looks like, and tolerate them from a distance.) He would not defend my honor and kill the snake. So I went back in the house for a couple hours and gave the "good" snake plenty of time to move along.
So, as I get to our locked driveway gate tonight, I grab the key off the rear-view mirror, glance out the driver's side window -- and there's about a 3-foot version of last week's snake, sunning on the gravel, just outside my door. "Well, craap!" I have nothing inside the car to throw outside at the snake. I can't see his tail -- that part is in the grass. "Well, craap -- nobody's home or the gate wouldn't be locked! And I'm not 'gonna just sit here and wait for somebody to show up and rescue me!" So I back up the Jeep, guesstimate where that thing is, and go forward; and then backward. And when I look again, snake isn't there -- blood spot, but no snake! "Well, craap!!!!" But putting on my brave face, I get out, look carefully around, quickly pull the gates open, dive back into the Jeep and get myself safely to the house over rough enough gravel that I hope the thing dislodges itself if it's stuck on a tire.
Gun-toting hero just got home, and was not amused by my story. "Craap!!" he said. "You probably killed one a those good big dam bullsnakes! They kill rattlers, and . . . . . . . . . . . . . (and more expletives)."
Oh, well . . . . I feel much safer now. Much better, too. Hero will get over it.