Never discuss cheese with rats, talk bread with birds
or make moves with snakes.
~ Author unknown ~
Love birds, will share my cheese with a rat teeny tiny
mouse . . . . . . but snakes terrify me!
OMG, thankful again for yet another great neighbor, this time Dale, two doors down.
He's my go to nature guy as he's a hunter (I forgive him), and will save me
from the not so nice critters who visit the cottage.
Picture this - me sitting on the front porch after supper last evening - light drizzle
falling as dusk fell. Bob upstairs on phone making travel arrangements.
falling as dusk fell. Bob upstairs on phone making travel arrangements.
Finch parents making a last check on their babies in the hanging basket overhead,
(I think they'll fledge any day now), cardinals singing in the fig tree, no mosquitoes,
life was good. . . . . .
. . . . . UNTIL I went in the house to get a paper towel to wipe a spider web off the
carriage lamp and on my return this gigantic 5 foot black snake was silently
slithering across the chair seat cushion and my reading glasses, WHERE I WAS
JUST SITTING, down onto the porch and over the doormat.
slithering across the chair seat cushion and my reading glasses, WHERE I WAS
JUST SITTING, down onto the porch and over the doormat.
I could have died right then and there as I'm terrified of snakes - and this was
the biggest I've ever seen at the cottage!!!
Calling for Bob to come downstairs (how I didn't scream I don't know) and at the
same time calling Dale who was the only person I knew could help me - he was
having dinner in a restaurant but promised to come home soon.
Bob couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the size of this creature. I went into
the dining room and immediately saw it looking at me through
the window as it climbed up the frame and then I realized where it was planning
to go. . . . . . . . to get my baby finches in the hanging basket, help!!!!!!!!
Dale pulled up - grabbed a shovel from his truck - Mary ran out the back door and
down the driveway (camera in hand of course!), Bob followed and we all
headed to the front porch.
Dale: "Oh yeah, that's really a big one"
Bob: "Thanks for coming Dale, is it poisonous?"
Mary: "How can you get it off the window and save my baby birds?"
As you can see in the photos, it was a huge, but not venomous, black rat snake.
Dale was brave, Bob was relieved he didn't have to capture and dispose of it
as even non-venomous snakes bite and one can get a nasty infection, and
Mary's hands were shaking - and heart pounding.
What a night!
The finch babies are safe and enjoyed what could be their last night on the
porch prior to fledging - they really look ready to fly. Little do they or their
parents know what a close call they had.
Gotta run now. We're off to the coast - it's drizzly and so humid this morning.
More later. . . . . . . .
the biggest I've ever seen at the cottage!!!
Calling for Bob to come downstairs (how I didn't scream I don't know) and at the
same time calling Dale who was the only person I knew could help me - he was
having dinner in a restaurant but promised to come home soon.
Bob couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the size of this creature. I went into
the dining room and immediately saw it looking at me through
the window as it climbed up the frame and then I realized where it was planning
to go. . . . . . . . to get my baby finches in the hanging basket, help!!!!!!!!
Dale pulled up - grabbed a shovel from his truck - Mary ran out the back door and
down the driveway (camera in hand of course!), Bob followed and we all
headed to the front porch.
Dale: "Oh yeah, that's really a big one"
Bob: "Thanks for coming Dale, is it poisonous?"
Mary: "How can you get it off the window and save my baby birds?"
As you can see in the photos, it was a huge, but not venomous, black rat snake.
Dale was brave, Bob was relieved he didn't have to capture and dispose of it
as even non-venomous snakes bite and one can get a nasty infection, and
Mary's hands were shaking - and heart pounding.
What a night!
The finch babies are safe and enjoyed what could be their last night on the
porch prior to fledging - they really look ready to fly. Little do they or their
parents know what a close call they had.
Gotta run now. We're off to the coast - it's drizzly and so humid this morning.
More later. . . . . . . .
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That is the farmer's friend - a King snake - they eat mice and rats around the grain storage sheds and corn cribs. I have actually handled them at the farm. One, I rescued from the dogs and the other, well, I don't kill anything, but it ate my new baby gosling. I caught it by the tail as it slithered through a hole in the shed and swung it high around in circles like a lasso, yelling. I threw it down and chopped its head off. I wondered if I should try and save my gosling inside, but my son said they strangle their prey so it would have been too late. Usually, when you find one, the mate is nearby. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteYIKES!!!!!! I hate snakes too. That had to be scary!
ReplyDeleteOh, Mary, I am right there with you in opinion of snakes!! Totally an OMG! moment. The part about him slithering over right where you had been sitting, gives me shudders every time I think of it. Hooray for Dale!
ReplyDeleteYou Two, Mary and Donna, know how to tell a snake story. When you come for a visit Mary I'll be sure to ask our water snakes and garden snakes to not show themselves.
ReplyDeleteYikes! How do they do that - climb vertically I mean? Come to think of it, now I remember going to a banquet when my daughter was in high school and seeing a snake in a soffit over the head table. Kind of took away from the ceremony, but at least we were at a distance. Thank goodness for your neighbor!
ReplyDeletePhew - a close call for the finch family indeed!
ReplyDeleteI am not scared of snakes as such; spiders do the trick for me. Having said that, I would not want to find a snake in my flat, but the chances of that ever happening are close to zero.
Oh my! That would definitely freak me out. Glad you were there to see it and save those babies! Thank goodness for a friend like Dale.
ReplyDeleteThis is only the second snake story I’ve read in Blogdom. It’s a good one! God bless your neighbor.
ReplyDelete