Snake story

[sagefinds]

I mainly grew up at a plumbing shop but some summers I would go up and help my uncle who farmed and ranched North of Rapid City when I was a kid. Lots of snakes up there,garters,bulls,blue racers and rattlers. Some of the bulls were docile,I could handle them,carry them around,some were downright ornery,they would rear up,look as mean as they could,hiss both inhaling and exhaling and strike at you if you got close. Fast forward many decades,not so many snakes around here but a few. I was out East of town one day and picked up about a 30" bull,brought him in to a storage compound I had and let him go,hoping he would eat a rodent or two before he crawled off. Was back down there in a day or two and when I walked in the gate I could hear him hissing and he was mad. It was coming from a pallet of tires,wheels,and so forth. I kind of looked over and down in and he was down in there looking at his own reflection in a chrome hubcap. I rattled stuff around,he got distracted and crawled off never to be seen,or heard, again.

[rocketraider]

Never seen one do that but I tend to give them plenty of room anyway, unless they're too close to the house. In which case I give them no room at all. Snake shot and a sharp hoe keep Serpentes at a safe distance.

 

I've seen birds do that. I did away with the bluebird houses because they'd perch on my truck's window sill and fight their reflection in the truck's side mirrors. They'd leave marks on the glass and then eventually poop down the door. I had to wash bird crap off the truck EVERY day. And it was only the bluebirds. Evil creatures...

 

When my Uncle Edd came home from WW2, he bought a 1941 Ford coupe. My grandparents had chickens and Edd had spent a whole day washing and polishing the "Super Duper Double Deluxe Pea Green Coupe".

 

A frisky rooster saw his reflection in the Ford's door and started fighting it. Those who know chickens know roosters have spurs on their feet, and this one was spurring his reflection to point those spurs were putting deep scratches in the Ford's paint.

 

There was chicken for supper that night.

[Andy J]

Many years ago,I went to a cookout at the Moose Lodge I belonged to.I parked my '55 Chevy Bel Air 2dr ht under the trees next to other cars.I sat in my lawn chair next to several friends and was just looking at the back of my car.I saw something dangling from under the car and noticed it was moving.Immediately I could tell it was a snake dropping to the ground from my car.I ran up to the car to see a 4 foot long chicken snake crawling merrily along his way through the grass.I'm not one to kill snakes for they don't bother me if I can see them out in the open.I don't know how long it had been in my car.However,had the snake crawled under my feet while I was driving,I would have had to change underwear after the wreck I would have been involved in.

[ElectricBanana]

Growing up, I had two friends who kept snakes as 'pets' and I learned how to handle them and tell the poisonous ones from the others. This 'training' has gotten me the office of 'snake handler' wherever I've lived. I always keep my snake kit handy - a 5 gallon bucket, a short piece of 2x4 and a pair of welding gloves. I've saved many a little crawler from the business end of a hoe!

[Barney Eaton]

Make sure you have a lid for the bucket.    We discovered a small rattler in my daughters garage...since it was a little over a foot long we put it in a 5 gallon bucket and she called a friend that 

catches and relocates snake..... when he came to get the snake it was gone.    Guess it was longer than we thought.  

I have lived in 3 different houses in Texas and killed a rattler at each the first year I lived in the house.   The last one was after a big rain...the guy must have been flooded out of his den and was stretched out

on my driveway.    He was dispatched and was close to 5 feet long. 

[rocketraider]

1 hour ago, Barney Eaton said:

He was dispatched and was close to 5 feet long. 

That wasn't a snake. That was a nightmare! 😬  Glad we don't have rattlers here, copperheads are bad enough. But there are rattlers 50 miles or so away, so it may be only a matter of time.

 

Good rule of thumb is that a snake can strike a distance over half its body length.

 

Makes me glad it was 17°F here this morning! If Serpentes  wasn't frozen solid, it certainly wouldn't be able to move! And that's a good thing!

[Bhigdog]

I helped this big ole boy off the road awhile back. Ten rattle yellow phase. Guessing he's all coiled up now in his den sleeping the winter away.........Vivre, laisser vivre............Bob

Edited November 29, 2023 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

Last time we changed the air filter on my Ram Diesel there was a 4 ft snake skin in the filter.