Anytime we went out to play, my grandpa would give us a hoe, tell us to watch for snakes, and if we found one, to chop his head off with with the hoe! It wasn't odd for us to see snakes either, but it was no joking matter. If we screamed "SNAKE!!!!" then by gosh, there had better be a snake, because Grandpa was going to be running our to kill it with a gun. He was taking care of us, and didn't think it was a funny joke if we screamed it as a joke.
So, I am not scared of snakes at all. If I come across one, I know exactly what to do. However, I hate snakes. I wish they were all dead. And really, the only thing I enjoy about living in town is that there are no snakes.
So we thought.
Flower and Little Man were out playing in our backyard. I was painting (of course) and Barb Wire Man was painting (of course). Little man came running inside. "Mama!! Ders a shnake in your garden! A big one Mom! Come git it!!"
I looked him square in the eyes and said "We do NOT joke about such things! Snakes could be dangerous, and you do not tell mommy there is a snake when there really isn't! Now go back outside and play...don't touch the paint!!"
Not 10 seconds later, Flower comes in. "MOM! He isn't joking OR lying! There really is a snake in your garden!"
Barb Wire Man and I both dropped what we were doing and ran outside. Here in Texas, it could be a small little garden snake. Then again, it could have been a giant bull snake. Or, it could have been a dangerous rattle snake.
Thankfully, it was just a garden snake. But, it was the biggest garden snake any of us had every seen. After Barb Wire Man let the kids look at it and touch it, he, ahem, beheaded it.
Because I live in town, dangit.
I understand completely, but you should have left him alone he was prbably eating buggies and things you probably wont want to find in your house or garden. The only snakes we kill are rattlers. But since I want nothing to do with scorpions or mice the others manage to survive.
ReplyDeleteNormally, that is all we kill, also. BUT, it isn't just my kids that play out there...day care kids too. Them finding it and playing with it would not have been acceptable by the State, OR their moms!
ReplyDeleteMy instinct is to say to leave it alone, as well. However, I have seen more injury from folks reacting to a harmless snake than injury from a dangerous snake. Enjoyable story Mimi! I guess you'll believe my boy from now on. :-))
ReplyDeleteScary business! We found a little snake like that last year, we shooed it down to the creek. I brought my dogs inside, but the snake wasn't inside their fence so I wasn't too worried! You definitely did the right thing by killing it I think, you can't risk your daycare kids getting hurt, that's different from trusting your own kids not to mess with it imo.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! I grew up across the street from the creek that runs through town, a few blocks from the edge of town, and we saw our fair share of snakes! My Daddy used one of those old timey manual weed wackers to chop them up, and you definitely didn't joke about seeing them!
Eeks! I'm glad it was a harmless one, but I don't like any of them. We have to watch because there's a ravine and slow moving water at our property's edge and sometimes we get them. There are a couple venomous ones that show up sometimes. YUCK!
ReplyDeleteYou're braver than I am. My theory is that all snakes are deadly because I'll KILL myself getting away from them.
ReplyDeleteboys must really be boys! my son brought me 5 baby snakes to show me. oh my gosh!
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