Tuesday, April 17, 2012

SNAKES IN A TREE, ADVENTURES IN THE COUNTRY

Thought you might enjoy this story of my Sunday afternoon the farm, in a little more detail.  I sent this as an email to a friend out of state and she said "you should post that to your blog" and I thought, why not and I'll add some fun photos for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!
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So, part of my weekend yard working plan was to check out some tree branches that might need to be trimmed next weekend, so I went in here...


Somehow I missed the sign and wandered "in".  As I glanced up to see what branches I could prune, and moved a couple out of the way, I reached for another one and saw a snake curled around it.  It was probably about a foot long, but really, it might as well have been 10 feet long.  It scared me, I scared it, it moved higher up the tree by corkscrewing around the branches, and I corkscrewed back out of the area and exited the way I came as quickly as possible.  

 

Then, in a flash of momentary blogger thinking  brilliance insanity, I thought to myself “oh a picture would be a great idea for the blog, let me go get my camera!”


 So, I go back under the tree, armed with a hoe in one hand and a camera in the other, looking up for my little snake friend.  I don’t know what prompted me to look down instead, but when I finally did look down, this is what I saw...

  
About three feet longer than the little one I saw on the branch, which puts it at about four feet long (or was that 110 feet?), slithering on the ground in front or me.  Was this one just up in the tree earlier as well?  Had I walked under it and didn't notice?  If the one I saw earlier was Jr, this one could be Momma and I sure didn’t want to wait around and see Daddy...


I snapped the pic, got goose bumps, realized I almost stepped on it, then I saw my life flash before my eyes:

Did I really once dress like Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice?  Yes I did, hey it was the 80's, cut me some slack.

Once again, I quickly exited the area.  Serpentine! Serpentine! 

So I go up onto the porch, taking a break with my glass of tea, sitting in the rocking chair to look at the photos I had just taken, hands shaking, still amped up from the great "snakes in a tree" event, when I heard an animal running fast and panting heavily. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, coming at full speed, right up onto the porch where I was sitting. 


With visions of a rabid coyote lunging at my throat, for the second time that afternoon, my life flashed before me.


Did I really wear leather pants once?  Hey, it was the 90's, cut me some slack.
Why do the fashions keep coming up?


Thankfully it was just 2nd Family's dog, ‘Blue’, who was coming up to say hi.  He's a sweet dog, just a little "sudden" and "overzealous" in his appearances.  With the skies becoming dark and hearing some thunder, I took it as a sign that it was time to call it a weekend.

On the way out of the driveway, I saw these pretty flowers and they instantly reminded me of why we want to live out there full time...

...and you know what?  I wouldn't trade anything for that adventure; snakes, phantom coyotes, and all.  I can't wait to go back out there and do it all over again in a few more days...minus the fashion faux pas remembrances of the last century of course. 

33 comments:

  1. Quite an adventure for you this weekend. The only snake I've seen here was in my husband's study the summer after we moved in. We figure it hatched from somewhere. It was small so I picked it up by its tail and tossed it out the door. Since then we've seen snake skins on the stone walls outside his study and also on the stone walls outside the front door. I guess they slither along there to shed. Creepy thinking of it.

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    1. In the study? Yikes! And where there is one baby, I'd be afraid of others, lol. I did some some snake skin outside the house, same thing, on the wall. Creepy is a good word, ha.

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  2. Funny!! I respect snakes but they freak me out and I wouldn't want to be near a tree full of them!!

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    1. I wouldn't say the tree was FULL of them, but in my minds eye, I envisioned a tree full, haha.

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  3. I'm brave when it comes to mice and spiders, but snakes? I'd DIE a thousand deaths

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    1. Ditto Sue!! Mice? No issues. Spiders? I usually set them free (unless they are poisonous). But snakes? Um, no! I hear ya!!!

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  4. Around here I have to deal with the snakes - Tramp 1 has a real aversion to them. While we know there are rattlesnakes here, we have only seen a dead one down the road - stoned to death by some other frightened human... Any idea what kind of snake you were dealing wtih?

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    1. Yikes, Rattlesnakes scare me too. I thought that's what this was at first. Apparently, the general consensus from 2nd Family and my boss and some comments from you guys is that it's a "Rat Snake". Also around these parts called "Chicken Snakes" and in other parts of the country, "Gopher Snakes". Probably based on what they eat, ha. Most everyone tells me to appreciate them, they'll keep the rat and mice population down. It'll be a learning process, ha.

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  5. Oh, my....I laughed until the tears came! Hey, I wore bell bottomed polyester pants. It was the 70s, cut me some slack!

    I do hope the snake(s) tree isn't the one where you'll be dining this summer. If so, be sure to take the camera out along with your lunch! I still say it's a gopher snake. A good guy, but I still don't like them.

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    1. I wore poodle skirts, too. Hey, it was the 50s, cut me some slack. (Still laughing).

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    2. Granny, you made ME laugh. THanks!! It was fun writing this post, I was able to bring out my humorous side, hope it worked, ha. I don't get the bell bottomed thing, but poodle skirts looked awesome, I think my Mom wore those too.

      Hey, I was born in the 60's so my 60's and 70's clothing consisted of Huskies, Garanimals and Star Trek/Star Wars pj's, ha.


      Yep, Gopher snake I'm pretty sure it is. Down these parts people call them Rat snakes and Chicken snakes. Definitely a good guy but I don't have to like the good guys, right?

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    3. You'll have to read about my adventure with a snake in the yard.....and the toad, and the tarantula:

      http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2010/03/march-22-2010-critters.html

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  6. Should we discuss how you dressed in the 90s???? I have pictures!!! Oh wait... you probably have pictures of me.

    I digress. Remind me about snakes when I visit you. I HATE them!!! Makes my skin crawl just looking at the pictures! YUCK!

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    1. You. Have. Pictures. ?? Oh, well I do too! LOL! I can not only remind you, we can go visit the "Tree of Snakes"!

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  7. My logic knows that most snakes are harmless, but my adrenaline pump hasn't figured that out yet. I had a good friend who had snakes, and I've held them. They're not creepy at all, very smooth, like fine leather. But, I still am scared to death of them. Awful on the ground, worse in trees.

    Your account is hilarious! You were very brave, going back under that tree.

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    1. That's one of the best descriptions I've ever heard. Logic vs adrenailine, ha. I've touched snakes and you're right they are very smooth and actually quite beautiful. But dangling like tinsel from a Christmas tree (OK, I exaggerate a bit, lol) is another story. I'll HAVE to go back at some point, just to do some landscaping work but I can wait a bit....

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  8. I guess you will come across snakes often when you live in the country. I was sure my suburban neighborhood was snake free when last October I saw a huge one that looked much like the one you saw. I ran in the house to get my camera because I wanted to identify the snake, but I would rather study a photo up close than get up close to a real live snake. I thought it would make a good blog post too. Unfortunately, when I returned with the camera, the snake was gone. I am not sure what came over me, but I started poking around plants trying to find the snake!(It was a slow week for blog topics.) I have not seen the snake since.

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    1. Hope you don't come across any of those red eyed snakes.

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    2. I'm glad I'm not the only to think "Oh I should get a picture!". Of course, I didn't poke around with a stick, ha. I choose to believe your snake moved on elsewhere. Yeah. that's it. And so did mine, ha.

      If I ever see one of those red eyed giant snakes, I'm outta there!! :-)

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  9. Snakes alive!

    I'd be freaked out by one, never mind a nest of them. One of the "pleasures" of living in the country :)

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    1. Yep, "pleasure" is a good word, ha. You know until this, I never even thought about them when I've walked under those trees...rest assured I WILL next time, ha.

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  10. Glad we don't have snakes much in this country. I would have freaked out too! Do you know what sort they were? Able to swallow you whole I am sure.

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    1. Really? Not alot of snakes? That's cool! It's a "Rat snake" (that's what they call them in this part of the states) and it's not poisonous and eats rats and mice. I'll just avoid them from now on. ;-)

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  11. Where we live, we're surrounded by miles and miles of swampy woods, so snakes are just kind of a given. Last summer we were all hanging out in the living room when we realized something really had the dog's attention. Went to check it out, and he had cornered a small black snake I'd seen earlier on the back porch. It was now in our house! Sarge wrangled it into a container and released it in a wooded area across the street. Moral of the story...weather stripping is your friend! The stripping around our back door has been messed up since we moved in (they still haven't fixed it!), and Mr. Snake just slithered right in under the door.
    I love that you're able to report a humorous account of what undoubtedly was a frightening experience. Thanks for getting my morning off to a laughing start. =)

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    1. Glad I could give you a laugh. Hey, if we can't laugh at ourselves...LOL! Great idea about the weather stripping. We do have a back door that's at least up off the ground but it has some gaps. Haven't worried about it since we don't have a/c yet, but I never thought about it as a snake entry point. Thanks, for the reminder, I need to add weather stripping to the shopping list, ha.

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  12. I nearly LOL'ed right off the couch! Glad you survived your adventure!

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    1. Survived to have another adventure this weekend I'm sure! ;-)

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  13. Snakes in trees? Here? I didn't need to know that. Think I'll steer clear of the trees while I'm mowing from now on! Is that a Mantis tiller? I had one a long time ago and really liked it.

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    1. Ha, I rode my new mower up into that tree area and never gave it a second thought. Now I'm thinking "what if they are in the branches and they slip off while slithering away from the mower sound"? OMG, I'll have to rethink that, ha.

      YES, good observation, it's my first Mantis tiller. LOVED how well it worked. I'll do a review of it soon after I've done some more things with it.

      Thanks for commenting!

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  14. Lol...thanks for the laugh! What an imagination you have! I'm glad you survived...the 80s...the 90s...the big ass snake(s) and the phantom coyote! ;-) Good times!

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    1. Good times indeed! I had fun sharing that. Glad you enjoyed. Not sure what scared me more, the snakes or the 80's HA!!!

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  15. Which is precisely why I don't live in Texas. I saw too garter snakes that were pencil thin and about a foot long the other day and nearly had a heart attack. If I saw a snake that big, I'd probably poo my pants.

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    1. That's too funny! I bet there are plenty of snakes up there you just haven't seen...yet...LOL! So I guess TOUCHING one is out of the question? ;-)

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