Blogger Layouts

Monday, October 27, 2008

Do I Loook Like a Snake Charmer??

We have now had a total of FOUR snakes in our house since we have lived here! Thankfully the last two I discovered on the back porch before the cats chased them in the house. Ironically, the last two were found last Sunday, and yesterday. Only one week apart!

I am sure many of you have the same HEALTHY fear of snakes that I have... Ok, well mine may not be totally "healthy" so to speak! The first snake I found not too long after we moved in was mocking me in front of the food pantry where I was headed to get my box of cereal for breakfast that morning. Jim, at the time, was still working for the company out in Brandon, and when I called him crying that there was a snake in the house, he sympathetically told me, I am at work, there is nothing I can do about it! Hmph! I then called Kyle! Kyle came to my rescue, put on my Bar-B-Q pot holders (you know the kind that go up to the elbows and are fire proof) just in case it was a baby rattler as we were just certain it was! Then got our LONG Bar-B-Q tongs and proceeded to dispose of the snake for me. We even put it in a quart size zipper bag to save for Jim so he could see that it was a rattle snake... Turns out, it was a Rat snake (not the same and not poisonous at all).

Snake #2- By this time, Shadow and Pouncer had been adopted and a cat door had been installed so that the cats could go in and out on the back porch as they please. Well, they have also been able to chase lizards and snakes in through this special door as well. Snake #2 was definitely what I would consider to be a "good-sized" snake... possibly about 3 feet long (if stretched out) but it was a skinny snake (not like a boa or anything like that). As I sat on the couch, I couldn't understand why the cats were gathererd in the corner by all the tv wires. THEN the wires were slithering across the wall back behind the tv- at which point I realized SNAKE SNAKE SNAKE!!! I managed to grab the cats and lock them in the bedroom. Once again I called for Jim (who wasn't at home)... NO ANSWER... I called my in-laws who live right next door... NO ANSWER... I called MY DADDY... MY HERO... MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR... he's about 15-20 minutes away from being able to come to my rescue... so he tells me, don't let the snake out of your sight until I get there... So what's a scardy cat supposed to do? Picture a grown woman, sitting on the back of her couch, feet on the couch cushions, with a broom, screaming (with tears) "GET BACK" while shoving the broom as close to the snake as possible trying to keep in the corner where she can see him... You know cause snakes really seem to respond to loud screaming women (Hardly)... until my dad showed up and rescued me!

On to Snake #3 (last Sunday)- I am not exactly sure what made me look out on the back porch, perhaps it was just a nice looking day out and I walked to the sliding doors and looked out to see a small garden snake coiled underneath the stack of patio chairs and Pouncer running from one side to the other swatting and ducking the striking snake. I tried to distract Pouncer with a loud bang on the door, however when he is in the zone there is no distracting him... Thankfully, Jim was home this time and got out the trust Bar-B-Q tongs (no pot holders like Kyle) and headed outside where he chased Pouncer in and "took care of" the snake for me. Let's just say that if I were a snake, I would be seriously reconsidering getting caught by Jim! :)

And now we come to Snake #4 (yesterday)- Jim had been out on the back porch cleaning the litter box while I was getting ready for church. Later I walked over to the sliding doors (once again) and looked on at the beautiful day! I saw what I thought was a dead snake coiled up lifelessly in the middle of the porch... I figured, well, the cats already got him, but I ain't going out there to clean it up...."JIM- there's a dead snake on the porch" by this time, Pouncer had made it out to the porch and discovered the "lifeless" monstrosity... to which we both discovered, was not in fact dead... According to my very knowledgable hubby, snakes being cold blooded move slower when the temperature drops and this particular morning a "cool" front had come through. So Pouncer was again, "playing" with this snake who was trying despartely to fight back and that's when it happened, Pouncer jumped, and ran underneath the stack of chairs and began licking his hind quarters... I do believe he got bit on the behind! Jim proceeded out on to the porch, Tongs in Hand, "took care of the snake- Brooklyn style" and Pounce spent the remainder of the day licking that same spot on his hind end... You think he has learned his lesson? We'll see...

I looked up snake bites on pets just to make sure that he would be ok (it was again just a garden snake) and I did find out that we would be in debt over the four dead snakes if we lived in Austrailia... apparently garden snakes are protected species over there and if killed you will be fined $5,000.00...

It seems that Pouncer is ok. I have a feeling he won't be trying to corner any more garden snakes, but we'll just have to see how it goes next Sunday. Hopefully this was the last of them, but you never know around my house!

8 comments:

Dani said...

I am very glad that thus far no snakes in our house.

Bekah said...

EWWWWW! I can't stand snakes either...terrified of them, actually. So I am very impressed that you had the sense to call everyone you could think of to get rid of the snake. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I probably would have just run out of the house and not come back until someone had already killed the snakes for me.

His Mercy Endureth Forever said...

Thankfully, we have not had any snakes IN the house, but we have had a ton around the yard! One was right at the front door and scared the heebie jeebie out of me!

Owl of the Desert said...

YIKES! That's scary! Thankfully we haven't seen many up here. I remember when I was really little, my mom found one outside, and she killed it with a hoe. So, that would be my first reaction - where's the hoe? Although, I guess that wouldn't work so well in the house...

Anonymous said...

Poor Pounce. I doubt he learned the lesson to stay away from the snake, but hopefully he learned how to better avoid getting bit in the buttocks!

Berle

Anonymous said...

Poor Pounce. I doubt he learned the lesson to stay away from the snake, but hopefully he learned how to better avoid getting bit in the buttocks!

Berle

Lil. Bit said...

Man Oh Man! I think I would freak out if I saw a snake in my house. and then in your case being preggo. Are they just trying to get Joshua to come early? lol. I love how Jim "takes care of the snake-Brookyln style" :]

misslissa78 said...

EEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!