Sunday, April 5, 2015

Finally, something to blog about!

And, of course, it's Spring break, so there's time to focus on something longer than a few lines on Facebook.

Spring -- the time of renewal, of rebirth, of snakes in the house. Yep, Buddy has brought his first snake of the season in the house. And it was a big 'un. Mike and I were in the "den" -- one of our two small front bedrooms -- and heard Buddy give his little call that means "Come see what I caught!" I assumed it was a lizard and didn't come rushing. He gave it again, which is unusual, so I looked around the door, and there was an 18-inch long garter snake slithering down the hall toward me.

I shouted, "He's brought in a snake and it's a big one!" and closed the door. As soon as I'd done it, I realized that made no sense on two fronts -- one, the snake could easily slide under the door and two, we would have to leave the room sometime, and the snake would still be out there. Mike, of course, is panicking, shrieking like a girl. So, I take a deep breath and open the door.

"Damn, it's gone under the couch." Buddy was between the back of the couch and the wall, clearly looking for the snake.

"We'll have to call someone!" I didn't realize that Mike could hit those high notes.

"Why? It's just a garter snake."

"Oh -- I thought you said it was a big one. I thought you meant it was a water moccasin or a copperhead." OK -- my fault. I know he's got a real phobia.

"No. Not that big. Just a bigger one than he usually brings in." Generally, he catches the juveniles, the ones that aren't much bigger around than a pencil. This one looked full-grown. I think it's the one I saw in the front yard last week.

By this time, Buddy has caught the snake and brought it back out to show us. I run into the kitchen, grab the tongs (the long ones with the rubberized ends), come back, successfully grasp the snake and play a little tug-of war with Buddy, then head outside at top speed and fling it across the back (chain link) fence.

And then come back in to find poor little Bud-boo hunting for his prize. Life just isn't fair sometimes, I tell him.

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