A Snake Tell

A couple of weeks ago, Lou and I decided to go for a walk with Bubba. She took him out to strap him in the stroller, when all of the sudden she saw a snake! It wasn't a big snake, and it looked like it wasn't moving, so she just "calmly" strapped Bubba in tight, and wheeled the stroller several feet away, and then called for me. Oh course, Kim was at work, so it was just us ladies to take care of the beast. Lou stood guard until I got there, and then I had a look. Yep, it was a snake alright, it stuck it's forked little tongue right out at me and wiggled just a bit to show me that he was very much alive. And the pattern looked suspiciously like diamonds.
Well, I decided that I could take matters in my own hands, so once again I left Lou as a
look out to make sure it didn't slither away, and I ran to the back yard to get a shovel.
Unfortunately while I was gone he slithered under a ladder that was laying there, so I didn't have a good shot of him with the shovel. As he was heading for the cover of the ladder, he proudly showed his tail to Lou and shook his rattles.
At this point, my bravado was starting to fade just a bit, so I climbed two rungs up on another ladder. I told Lou to lift the ladder to expose the demon, and I poised, shovel in hand ready to spear him. Lou just looked at me and said, "Are you crazy? There is no way I am moving the ladder - it will attack me!" So, we were at an impasse. What to do?
Of course - we could call for help from the big, strong, testosterone-laden neighbor. Unfortunately, he was up in Mantua running, and he didn't believe that we had correctly
identified our predator as a rattle snake, so he tried to pacify us by telling us that he would be home in about 45 mins. (Actually he did offer to come right home, but we declined his offer)
We next tried my brother-in-law, Mark, who was not only
able, but willing to rescue two damsels in distress. While I bravely watched from my perch, Mark lifted the la
dder and exposed the snake. He pinned it down with the shovel, and then chopped off it's head
. Whew, what a relief! Once we were sure that it was no longer a threat, he threw it in the
garbage.
Remember my running neighbor? He immediately came to our house after the run to see our snake. As he peered into the garbage can he exclaimed, "Wow! It really is a rattle snake!" He didn't think that Lou and I knew the difference between a blow snake and a rattler! He apologized for not believing us, and promised to be available to rescue us in the future.
It was quite the harrowing experience! But it turned out well. I just hope we never have to have a repea
t performance! I have lived near the mountains almost all of my life, and this is the first live rattle snake I have ever seen. I sure hope it was the last
!

Comments

Doran & Jody said…
Oh scare my guts! Not sure if I want to come to your house until it is the middle of WINTER!
August 15, 2010 at 8:50 PM
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