Monday, July 26, 2010

The Unexpected Visitor...

   Today I had an unexpected workout.  I was in the house when I heard the dogs barking out front.  If you have dogs you know you can tell the difference between a play bark and a warning bark.  They were warning.  I figured someone had gotten lost on the trails in the woods and wondered onto our property again.  So I go to check it out.
   They first thing I see is our dog Blondie staring at the front of the truck.  Okay, people usually come from the other way.  It might be that wild piglet or a rabbit trying to get my garden again.  But no she is not looking straight ahead... she is looking down.  Now what on earth can she be ... OH MY GOSH.

This is what she is looking at...





               A  6 foot long Timber Rattlesnake.  No I am not exaggerating.

      Now I am barking with the dogs, but my bark is more like... SNAKE...  SNAKE .... SNAKE.  Poor Jack is in the office and knows somethings up but can't make out what I'm shrieking.  He is yelling what is it. And I'm yelling Snake.  Then I see the rattle.  I really yell then ... GUN... SNAKE... RATTLE.
   Luckily he has lived with me long enough to be able to understand my shorthand.  He grabs his gun and heads out the door.  Yells at me to keep the dogs back.  Nooo problem, I'm not going in where near that thing and the dogs are trying to protect me.  So while he is going forward, I'm going back.  Carl Lewis couldn't  have caught me.  I'm pretty sure I could have set a world record.
   The snake was dispatched before it got into the house....  But the dang thing keep moving, even after his head was blown off.  I was jumping around trying to keep up with dogs and out of the way of the headless snake chasing us.  Yes I know it couldn't bite with out a head but I didn't want to test that out.  Needless to say my heart got a real good work out before everything settled back down.
   Hey ... someone call Steven King or Dean Koontz I got a great idea for a book.

    Oh and by the way in case you are wondering,  I did not take a picture of the snake.  The camera was inside and I don't have a telephoto lens.  And I really didn't want to see it smile at me anyway.


 

8 comments:

Al said...

Down this way we have snake wranglers that will come and move a snake away.

Moving the varmint somewhere else is my favoured approach.
Having said that I have shot the occasional snake.

You guys have the right method if you are going to dispose of one, the only safe way to kill a snake is a shotgun. In Oz 90% of bites on people are from idiots trying to kill a snake with a stick or shovel.

I have seen beheaded snakes writhing for more than three hours after they were killed.

Hope you are over your fright.

Natasha said...

I'm going to have nightmares just thinking about this. Hope you are safe.

Theres just life said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Theres just life said...

Dang spell check. Forgot to use it again. Let me try again.
Al, We are with you we didn't want to kill it. It was just doing what it does. But it was doing what it does between the front door and the truck, a distance of 12 feet, and the dogs and I where in it's path. I tried to reason with it but it didn't seem inclined to listen. Of course the screaming and barking probably had something to do with that.

Rayna, sorry about the nightmares. I dreamed about that thing myself last night. Thank you for your concern and we are all safe.

Parsley said...

YIKES! That's just one scary experience!

Chris & Stephanie said...

Hi Pamela Jo! Thank you so much for visiting my blog off of the Pioneer Woman's website! I'm always happy to have another follower!

As far as the snake - YIKES! I can't imagine finding one of those!

Laura Eno said...

I don't like to kill things either but snakes don't read the "No tresspassing" signs or the "Keep off the grass" signs. So they have to die. Being chased by a headless snake is something you can only laugh about AFTERWARDS. :)

Thanks for following my blog!

Theres just life said...

Parsley, glad you stopped by and yes it was.

Stephanie, you are welcome and nice to see you here. Your pictures of your kids are great.

Laura, Yes it is rather funny from a distance in space and time. Love your stories, they are a fast read and good. Thank you for writing them.