SNAKE STORY

[Sherri]

Hi Forum Gang:

Well, let me tell you what happened to me today.  I made two pies this morning and then I did the stuff I needed to do in the house as I got all the acreage mowed last night after 3 evening at it.  Well, I thought I would go out and wash my car.  So when I started out to the garage I could hear our dog Brody just barking and barking.  Well, he does not bark unless there is either someone coming into the driveway or a varmint close by.  Well, when you go out the door in the laundry room to the garage, behind the door is a corner shelf that Curt has tiki oil, his battery charger and things like that.

Well, when I stepped out, Brody was standing there looking at the corner and barking and barking.  Well, I knew right away that it was not a mouse or lizard because he would have been tearing up the place to get to it.  He was leaning way forward and barking so I knew right away that it was a snake.       (Now I know that if there were a hidden camera somewhere, this would have been so funny, now that it is over with). 

I looked and looked and I could not see anything.  I looked all over the floor in the corner and was trying to see where Brody was looking and for the life of me, I could not see a thing.  So, I got on the floor with Brody so that I could be at the same eye level as him and looked and looked and he was looking at me like, Jeepers mom, can't you see it.    Well, so I thought okay, he just smells it and there is nothing there.  So I walked out and pulled my car out and thought I will just go ahead and wash it.  Well, Brody started again with the barking and he ran out to where I was and then ran back in the garage and came to the door and looked to see if I was coming, so back in the garage I went.  (I had to get my washing stuff anyway).

So again, he was looking in the corner.  I looked and looked and still I could see nothing on the floor, in the corners or on the little table that is in the corner...(stupid me, didn't look up on the shelves).    So once again, I thought there is nothing there.  So I went to the shelves to the left of the corner to get my windex, tire cleaners and then I heard it rattling.    I jumped back and I swear it was like maybe 3 feet away from me curled around the jug of tiki oil on the second shelf in the corner and he was coiled up and was in a striking position. 

Okay, I was convinced and I tell you what my heart was pumping. (now if it would have been a mouse, I would have been out of there).  Brody had this snake so mad and I knew it was a bull snake as they make a rattling noise when they are mad.  Well, I had to get things moved so that I could reach him with a hoe to kill him.  So I got the hoe and I very carefully started moving small items.  I reached for the ladder that was there and he struck at me.  Scared me like you would not believe.  I moved the fishing poles, he struck at me.  Everything I would try to move he would strike.  Well, I knew that I needed a diversion as his head followed my every move and by this time I was a bit nervous.  I didn't want him to get away from me as he was close to the laundry door and I sure did not want him in my house.  I sat back with Brody, keeping my eye on him at all times and I thought how could I do this?    Then an idea (even though probably a dumb one) hit me.

I quietly opened the door and got the foaming wasp spray (now don't laugh, that stuff sprays for a long ways).  I came back into the garage with my weapon in hand. hahaha...I spray the foam on his head and he really got confused so I moved more stuff.  The foam dissolved.  He started striking again.  I stood back and sprayed him again (now you need to know this damn foam is going everywhere but I did not care).  I moved the last thing so that I could get to him and darned if he didn't fall down behind the table and under it.  The foam was gone again and oh he was one mad snake.  He coiled all up and was striking every chance he got.

Okay...I thought to myself, I need to let him calm down. Yea right.  That was not going to happen.  So I got on the floor on my hands and knees and Brody was like, What are you doing?  But he was behind me not beside me. lol

Okay...I still have my foaming weapon in my hand.  I also have the hoe.  I thought okay...I need to get him out from under the table and as soon as I do, I need to chop off his head.  So I spray and spray him and here he came and I took a big swing with the hoe and yup...I missed....he was really mad but had foam all over him.  I started swinging again and hit him.  But not enough.  The foam was disappearing so I was hitting and hitting and finally he started bleeding and then I got him on the hoe and gave a big sling and he almost landing on me.  I screamed and Brody tore out of the garage...scared him to death. hahahahaa....He started to slither off and I took that hoe and I chopped and chopped till finally I chopped his head off.  He was about 4 foot long.  So I put him in the grass so Curt could see, took his head to the pasture and got me a big bucket of soapy water and had quite a cleaning job to do.  But I scrubbed all the blood off the cement and cleaned the corner and all is well again.  Brody looked at me, and was so relieved. 

Brody will try to kill anything except for a snake and Curt is glad because a snake bite on a dog is horrible, not to forget that it would have been horrible for me as well.  So just wanted to share what I did today. hahaha

[Diane Amberg]

 You mean you didn't just grab him by the tail and hold him up like Steve Irwin would have? 

[kdfrawg]

Well, I have to tell you, Sherri, that makes my day seem pretty dull by comparison.

[Wilma]

Sherri, you are much braver than I.  I once was faced by a nine inch green snake and I backed down.  I let him have the yard work that I was doing.

Let me tell you what one of my daughters did to me one year.  First daughter was in high school and not a bit in awe of anything like that.  One day she came in with a small snake wrapped around her wrist, holding it's head between her thumb and finger and I, thinking she had found a rubber snake somewhere and was trying to scare me, started to take it from her.  It stuck it's tongue out at me.  I didn't touch it.  Later she came in carrying a much larger snake and I turned her around and held the door open for her.  We have an understanding now that nothing bigger than a pencil gets inside the door.  There are more stories but I would rather hear more about Sherri's.

[flo]

great "visual" account of your day, Sherri.  By the way, did you get your car washed? Have you sharpened your hoe? How many drinks did you and maybe Brody need after this was all over ?  Can only say glad it was you and not me and that it was only a bull snake.

[Sherri]

Yes Flo, I did get my car washed.  Only drank tea and Brody was so glad that I was brave and got rid of the snake.  After it was all over, he went back into the garage and laid down and slept while I washed the car. hahaha...Just got done making homeade ice cream to go over the peach pie and cherry pie.  Curt and our company said it was really really good.

[kdfrawg]

Oh my goodness, Sherri said my favorite four words in the world (well, maybe only three):

Peach Pie Cherry Pie

Oh, I think I may swoon! Is it all right for a guy to swoon in Howard, or is swooning reserved for the ladies and looked down upon when done by men?

[kfclark]

One thing I inherited from my Dad is a healthy fear of snakes. 3 shudders down my spine in quick succession. 

Sherri, you are my hero.

Kermit, I think it is OK for a man to swoon over Peach or Cherry Pie, but I'm not sure we would be allowed to swoon from fear of a snake.  What do you think? 

I'm in Elk County this weekend and I get to have a Chunky Monkey from Toots.  Woo Hoo for me. I promise not to swoon over it, but I think they rank up there with pie. By the way, does anyone know if Louise Chrisman still make the pies for Toots?

[kdfrawg]

kfclark, I think you make a good point. I will feel free from now on to do a manly swoon over a perfect piece of pie. When it comes to snakes, though, I am somewhere between you and Wilma, but I tend towards the carbine rather than the hoe since I got bit by a rattlesnake in Montana years ago. It obviously didn't kill me but it was an unpleasant couple of days getting back to civilization.

[frawin]

Kevin, I worked with and for your Uncle Guy for several years and he and your Grandmother would not harm a snake on their land unless it was a Rattler or Copperhead. When I first started working for Guy I went into the barn on the hill at the home place and when I reached up to turn the light on there was a snake on the ledge by the light switch. I came out of there looking for something to kill it with, Guy was there and he said that snake has been in there for several years and I don't want it bothered. He pointed out that there were few if any rats or mice around the buildings and it was because the snakes ate them. Several times over the years Guy would pick up a Bullsnake or a Blacksnake and take it to the home place and put it in or around the outbuildings.
Frank Winn