snake charmer

The other afternoon, soon after my older daughter headed out the door, we heard a piercing shriek followed by some (mild) swearing. A couple seconds later, she flew back in and babbled a full report: Snake! Huge! You gotta come see!

My husband and I dutifully tromped outside. No snake anywhere. (Which was more than a little unnerving.) But then I spotted it slithering through the grass, heading for an evergreen. When it started climbing, we realized it was after a nest of eggs—the mother bird was stress-hopping about the yard—so we intervened. (Because National Geographic we are not.) Thwarted, the snake headed off through the flower bed.


Can I pick it up? My older son had joined us by then.

No! we said. Just leave it alone.

But I know how to do it. I won’t get hurt. Please?

Fine, I said. But if we have to make a trip to the ER, you have to pay us 50 dollars. Deal?

My older daughter got brave enough to touch it, and then my husband, too.

But the best part was when the snake stuck its tail up my son’s shorts (see above) and gave my husband the willies.

And then my son went across the road and tossed the snake into a wooded area, far from our chicken coop.

The end.

This same time, years previous: the quotidian (5.23.16), the basics, more on trash, the reason why, the boring blues, chocolate-kissed chili, Aunt Valerie’s blueberry bars.

7 Comments

  • Athanasia

    Does look like a rat snake/black snake. They like to eat rodents so I tolerate them on the farm. They will climb though to get bird nests and I don't like that. We put a collar around a couple trees to keep them out.

  • Joy

    Looks like a black rat snake. While they will prey on bird nests, as their name suggests, they're REALLY good at preying on rodents. I was always happy to see them when we lived in the Alleghenies. One day, though, I walked into an open garage and reached for a hoe hanging on the wall. The hoe moved. It was a rat snake in the process of climbing to the loft. That was a "willies" moment for sure!

  • Mavis

    I was expecting to see a garden snake. OH MY GOODNESS I would have ran inside the house. You're peeps are CRAZY.

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