When I got to the farm, I walked into the kitchen as usual. The light switches are there above the trashcan.
I looked ahead of where I was walking and I saw that spot on the floor in the living room (see it there?). I thought to myself, "dang it, I must have tracked in grass the last time I was in".
I flicked on the light switches...
A SNAKESKIN...about 3 feet long.
OH. HELL. NO.
Here's actual video of my reaction:
I got out of there and back to the porch to collect my thoughts and calm down my heart rate.
Not a mouse this time, not a mouse in the house...
What could it be and where could it be this thing in the house that is not a mouse?
Could it be in a closet for us to see?
Or in a cabinet to hide and be?
Under the bed to crawl on our head or
under the couch to be a big ouch?
It's a snake! It's a snake! It was not a mouse in the house! It was a snake inside, run run away far outside.
OK, so I'm no Dr. Seuss...at that point I really had ZERO interest in figuring out where it was. It was hot, my heart was racing, and so I just spent the rest of the time outside doing what I needed to do.
2nd Man suggested a for sale sign but we'll get through having a snake in the house. It's not the first time, it won't be the last. We hope it leaves the way it came in.
It's a snake! Grab the rake, grab the rake and take care of the snake.
Oh, Heck No.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to think about wearing some heavy rubber boots next time you enter the house & maybe a suit of armor as well. :-}
Look at it this way; at least there wasn't a mouse in the house.
Funny video of the miniature of yourself tho. :}
I keep the rubber boots in the utility room, I might should do that, ha. Or at night for sure. And hey, no mice is a plus.
Deletei might have told you this before but when i had my farmhouse, i saw a 6 foot black snake in the kitchen one morning. i grabbed my books and left for school and told the snake i would really appreciate him not being there when i returned. when i got home the snake was gone. i saw him sunning himself on the back fence the next day and he never came back in the house!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard that before. SIX feet? Wow. OK, so I'll put that out there this weekend, we'll tell the snake it is welcome on the property and can eat all the mice it wants, as long as it's in the yard. :-)
DeleteHopefully if there are any mice, he's eating them. I know you're not there all the time yet, but you definitely need a cat or two. They will get rid of both.
ReplyDeleteYep, we will have some cats for sure, barn cats/farm cats. And we're ok with the mice eating. Just do it outside, ha.
DeleteOh, my! Oh, my! Can you tell from the skin what kind it is? Where are there any holes to come in? What was It looking for? I know you can't answer these questions but that's what I'd be asking myself. Good luck and don't get a for sale sign.
ReplyDeleteWe're just kidding about the for sale sign. We'll learn to deal with it. There are a few gaps we've tried to close up. But with a snake (and mice) you never know. The skin looks like what we've seen (OUTSIDE) which belong to the rat snake. They are non venomous and very common to our area. We do have cottonmouths and some people in the are have seen coral snakes (both scary venomous). We're going with rat snake.
DeleteI love your Seuss-like prose about this latest discovery! So clever!!
ReplyDeleteAt least you know your heart’s in good shape because you got an instant stress test on it.
Snakes are vulnerable when they’re shedding their skin so they seek out quiet, safe places during that time. Then afterwards they move on. When I lived in the country, several times I found a snake skin in an unused back bedroom but never saw the actual snake.
My watch tracks my hear rate and it was up. I'm glad it was at least daylight. This is not something you've want to encounter in the middle of the night. Hopefully we will never see it either. We're hoping it has moved on...outside. ;-)
DeleteI feel for you.
ReplyDeleteIn one of our homes a snake lived under the front steps (and often sunned itself on them). For most of the year I ONLY used the back door (killing snakes is not legal here).
We usually leave them be outside, I moved one a couple years ago that was in the garden bed. Just don't really want it IN the house, ha. Fingers crossed it has moved on.
DeleteOMG! I’m with 2nd man! I wish I could be more supportive but that is my worst nightmare!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. We'll adapt but I'm guessing it's definitely not something you every really get used to. Be safe!!
DeleteNo wonder you saved the drama for today. I am agog to see what your follow up will be. Roderick
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping it's just "found nothing". We'll see. I will check the rooms and closets and cabinets this weekend....slowly and carefully, ha.
DeleteI laughed hard and long. Tommy is deathly afraid of even snake pictures. He said he would not have put up a sign for sale, he would have put up a welcome sign and just given the house away. Just keep writing poetry.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Tell Tommy I understand. I'm developing a coexistence with them but just don't want them inside. Thanks about the poem, I just thought I'd be silly. It's kind of funny as I go back and read it.
DeleteOh my! I'd have been out of there also. I doubt I'd even gotten pictures taken. I hope it's decided that the great outdoors is better now that it's done shedding, and that you figure out where it got in before it comes back.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we think (HOPE) that it used the quiet of the house to do it's thing and then left the way it came in. I'm going to check where there are openings that we thought we had closet up well (under the sinks usually). I hope it's not one of those toilet tank snakes!
DeleteOh my gosh, first of all, NO SNAKES EVER. And second of all, I would totally buy a book of Dr. Suess style farm stories, hahaha. Janie
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks (about the farm stories book). I think we need snakes, they do a good thing, they just need to live outside and we can live inside.
DeleteJanie V, hear hear! :)
ReplyDeleteNot sure if that's the snakes or the rhymes or both, but thanks.
DeleteI am conflicted. I am not afraid of snakes once I identify that they are harmless, but snake skin leaves too much up to the imagination. The upside is that if a visiting mouse got in, it is most probably is no longer.
ReplyDeleteYes, skin does make you think 'the worst' but most likely it's the harmless rat snake. But not knowing is probably the worst part and yes, if there are any mice hopefully they are gone now too, ha. Sorry mice!
DeleteWe had a snake at our house in the country. I named him Fred and made an agreement with him that he could live there and eat as many mice and rats as he wanted, until I moved in. Then he had to go.
ReplyDeleteI hope Fred left when you moved in. We will have to let the snakes know that out there. Stay during the week, take care of mice and rats and then be gone on the weekend, ha.
DeleteNot sure which would have happened first: a heart attack or me changing my britches! A snake is a snake and I would be hiring someone to chase him down and eradicate him from my home!
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!! Yeah, don't get us wrong, we know snakes and us must coexist and they play an important part in the ecosystem, but just stay outside, ha.
DeleteLove that video ... made me LOL this morning!!
ReplyDeleteYou may want to call in Animal Control or whatever you have there in Texas and have them scope out the place to find where it came in and if it has vacated the premises!!
I do not like any kind of creepy-crawly!!
It's creepy for sure. Might be too late for animal control but we'll see how it goes this weekend. Hoping it has moved on.
DeleteGREATGODINHEAVEN!!! I probably would have fainted. Snakes are hideous. I don't know if rodents or snakes are worse. Definitely put up the for sale sign.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
LOL Im hoping everyone knows we're joking about the for sale sign but yeah, it does tend to give one "pause", ha.
DeleteThose folks like Janie who question whether snakes or rodents are worse has probably never dealt with a rodent infestation. Rodents breed ridiculous quickly and huge numbers. One female rat can have 15,000 decedents PER YEAR. They also urinate and poop EVERYWHERE they travel. Not so with snakes.
ReplyDeleteWe had no clue 9 yrs ago when we moved into the home we are currently moving out of (thank goodness for many reasons!) that there were small red squirrels, mice and OMG rats infesting the roof and attic. We have spent literally THOUSANDS of $$$ trying to evict them. Well over $10,000. We have used traps, sonic noise makers, repellents, cats, (one of our 4 dogs is a pro at catching the squirrels). We have resorted to poison and evacuated us and our dogs and cats for over a week 5 separate times, paying for professionals to clean up afterward.... all to no avail. We've had professionals tell us that the only possibility - not certainty mind you - would be to remove every bit of drywall and insulation in the house, do another round of poison, then once there was no longer a sign, redo the insulation and drywall.
So I appreciate snakes because they love to eat rodents.
Of course, I live in Michigan where we only have one type of poisonous snake.
Shelley
WOW! I didn't know you were going through that in your home. Yikes! Yes, I've heard that a few snakes around a house can take care of literally hundreds of mice per year. Like we said, they can stay outside, under the house, wheverve, just stay out of the house. Snakes are clean, I've heard that. Yeah mice are just a mess. I feel for you. Hang in there!!!
DeleteOh dear. Here in New Zealand we don't have any snakes. It is illegal to bring any in. We don't also have bears, squirrels, or moose. Before humans arrived (about 800 to 1200 years ago) the only land mammals were a couple a types of teeny wee bats.
ReplyDeleteFull on sympathy for you. Take care and stay safe, xx
Michelle in Wellington, New Zealand
I had read that about NZ, but I always wondered if it was true. Side note, NZ is on our someday bucket list to visit. From what I've seen in videos and photos, it's stunning country.
DeleteEven with the bats (I think bats are cute, ha)
If you are that afraid of snakes, it is probably time to put the "for sale" signs up.
ReplyDeleteHa, yeah, we were just kidding about that for sale sign. We've learned to adapt to them. They are around on the property outside. Startling when we first see one, but we leave them alone. Just don't really want it inside, especially if walking around at night. When we get the house remodeled next year, closing up all possible entrances (as much as is humanly possible) to keep out snakes and mice will be a priority. We'll all learn to get along. ;-)
DeleteYou need to get a can of insulating foam. Spray it around every pipe coming into the house (best done underneath the house) and use it on every crack and cranny. Spread some moth balls around the perimeter of your house or get a a product called Snake Away and spread it around the perimeter. I can't stand the smell of moth balls, but I do put a few out every summer around the door steps. The safest and best product is Snake Stopper. It's a deterrent and is not a poison and safe for the environment. It has cinnamon oil it and it smells better than moth balls. I'm with 2d Man, a 4 sale sign would be going up. - I almost stepped on a snake going to mail box this summer. He was a baby and I didn't see him until I had almost put my foot on him. He wasn't poisonous thankfully!
ReplyDeleteBurn it down. Grab Hobart and run and throw lit matches over your shoulder as you run out of that snakey house forever!
ReplyDelete