Okay, if wiggly reptiles make you squeamish, you've been forewarned. They still send a tingle up my spine each time I attempt a capture, and I've handled hundreds. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Here's the story.
A few days ago, our neighbor walked into our yard while we were playing with Claire outside. He asked if we knew anything about SNAKES. And I said, "You've come to the right place!" His particular problem was a large snake IN his house. SURE, it's GREEN to leave the windows open. The SNAKES think so, too!
He cautioned me that the snake was as long as his couch. As I stood at the doorway to his living room and saw a room filled with "stuff," and that the lights were off (switch on the opposite side of the room), my task appeared daunting. Not only might it prove hard to even locate the serpent, catching it might be impossible. I was a little concerned about getting bit, even though they're not poisonous. I knew in my mind that it must be a black rat snake, my all-time favorite. Nothing else matched my neighbor's description.
By happy chance, I spotted the intruder trying to exit under a closed door. As he probed for a large enough space, I was able to pin his head to the floor with my trusty oak "snake stick." I quickly got my hand firmly behind his head, rendering him harmless (but don't try this at home). Although I had brought a snake sack, I decided just to carry him back to my house to show Judy and Claire. This was nothing new to Judy, who has been supremely tolerant of my passion for legless reptiles almost since we met. In fact, I caught more than one black rat snake at her Grandma McKenzie's house when we were still dating.
Claire was much too busy with our new ball raceway to pay much attention to our long, sleek visitor. Later, Jennifer was a little disappointed that Claire had not gotten to put the snake around her neck like she did when she was a small child.
I carried my new friend to the far southern side of our property to release it. Maybe it will find enough food to keep it from troubling my neighbor again. But his trouble wasn't over for this day. A little over an hour later, he ambled down our driveway again. His expression said it almost before his mouth: "I've got ANOTHER one."
So back I trudged with him, tools of the trade in my hands. This one was in the kitchen, and took longer to catch. Once I spotted him behind a cabinet, the snake still held quite an advantage over me. I simply couldn't get to where he was. I prodded around with a long stick and he retreated. I was very worried that he might go in the back of the stove. I wasn't prepared to move everything, but I couldn't leave my neighbor in this position.
Once again, I was lucky. Mr. Snake came out from under a cabinet halfway around the room. This was totally unexpected to me, but I was ready. Or so I thought. There was a wooden chair between us, but I had to act quickly before he went back under the cabinet. So I got my snake stick on him, only to have him entangle himself in the legs of the chair. They're constrictors and quite powerful. Before I could disentangle him, though, he made a rush to get away via the back door. That was his mistake. I had him in a flash. Normally, I would have opened the door and let him go, but I knew he needed to be removed far, far away.
I keep saying "he," but obviously these snakes were mates, looking not only for mice, but for a suitable hibernation spot. Our unseasonably warm fall has kept snakes active longer than usual. I released this one in the same spot as the other one, and I have no doubt that they were soon reunited, thanks to their keen senses.
These two were beautiful 5-foot specimens, much larger than the two black snakes and the single corn snake we had seen around our own house early in the summer. Unlike almost ALL my readers, I can honestly say I look forward to seeing them all again.
Please Be Kind to Snakes! : )
