Was just wondering what I was going to enlighten the blogosphere with today until a few minutes ago.....
Mr. Smiff calls and asks about something and then goes into his, "Now this is not THAT big a deal" (I know when he says that, he's about to throw a doozy at me and usually it involves that he might have seen a mouse in the house or one of the cats got one. I HATE mice.) He goes on to tell me that the Yard Guy, Mr. Mowtown, informed him that he had run over a 10 foot long snake in our yard. He ran over it because #2 was out kinda close to where he was playing. Mr. Smiff says he couldn't tell what kind it was because it was so, well, cut up in many pieces, but, he could tell it was brown.
I have known snakes are in our vicinity. We live close to a creek and I did find snake skin in my garage some years ago. #1 and Mr. Smiff have seen little grass snakes in the front. I'm aware of the possibility, subconsciously, everytime I go out to the messy garage to get laundry and that's what freaks me out the most is running into one out there. I also have heard snakes tend to have pals that they run with. I really don't care nothing about running into the Snake Pal as I'm about to do Whites, thanyavurymuch. Mr. Smiff insists our backyard is safe because of the three dogs. I don't know that I believe him or not. I should because he is the Country Boy in this family, compared to my Brentwood raisin'. His Granny was never afraid of snakes and would practically kill them with her bare hands.
They have snakes in Brentwood, too. My parents lived in our house over 20 years before they ever encountered one and my poor, snake-phobic mother and un-outdoorsy father dealt with a water moccassin and then a couple days later, his buddy.
Remember Tom T. Hall's song about Sneaky Snake?!?!?! Well, I DON'T like old Sneaky Snake.
Well, then, I have a good excuse not to do laundry today!
13 comments:
10ft!? 10ft?! WTF!
You sure he's not pulling your leg? I saw the creepiest photo ever in Sunday's Tennessean Sports Section. The world record cottonmouth snake was featured at around 10ft!The guy holding it, shot it in Big Sandy. But I also learned that it is a misdemeaner in TN to kill snakes of anytype! The TWRA will be looking for Mr Smiff and Mowtown.
We always had an overabundance of Copperheads growing up and I've killed plenty, but only with long reaching tools.
We saw that! My co worker is from Camden,where the big un was found and that guy holding it was a friend of her brothers.
I re-asked about the 10 foot thing. He said thats what Mr. Mowtown said. Apparently, it was pretty big.
I'm just glad Mr. Mowtown came today, even though the grass wasn't that high!!!!
Better keep your root beer safe, too!
Sneaky Snake likes the real thang too!
Neighbor Leland, the older, wiser, Man of the Land informs us it was a chicken snake...that they get about 6 feet long, ok not 10 as Mr. Mowtown said, but long enough and that they get in the trees looking for baby birds. I hate that thought, too.
Real thang? You mean Coca-Cola or real beer.
I like beer.
LOL!
Sneaky Snake will take all of your beer....while you aren't lookin. AND his underneath gets tickly when he wiggles through the grass....cept when he runs into Mr. Mowtown and his mower! He doesn't get so tickly then.
But he is afraid of your dog. (WOOF WOOF!)
No, wait, that's the Mysterious Fox of Fox Hollow. He doesn't have many friends, either.
Can you console yourself by singing "I Love" while venturing out to get the laundry? It works for me.
I believe it was a chicken snake, as they call it in these parts. At least that`s what the older and wiser neighbor thought it was. I like the older part, but the wiser part makes me feel a little ignorant ther darling. No comments from the sarcastic peanut gallery please.
Mr. Mowtown may have been caught up in the moment, when he said " It was ten feet long". After that we discussed the snake. "Joke"
Remember, a man that doesn`t lie, hasn`t got a whole lot to say.
He may have got in the beer too, because I feel he was HUNGOVER a limb, before he came down and met his fate.
Hi Sista,
I'm not crazy about snakes either, but remember they do eat mice. For every snake you see, that's 100 mice you won't ever see again.
And that snake in the paper is a total camera trick. Just like you always hold a fish out in front of you, the guy's got it on the end of a stick thrust out at the camera. You can see the end of the stick, so either he's holding out 4 feet in front of him (which I would definitely do) or he's capable of holding a huge log with a 10 foot snake on it. Dude didn't look like Superman to me...
Rest easy knowing "Mr. No Shoulders" is on your side in the mouse wars!
Grandefile....I always liked the one about the One Legged Chicken. It always left me melancholic and depressed though.
I love little baby ducks, old pick up trucks, slow moving trains and rain.....gotta love Tom T.
Sometime I'll have to blog about us having one of Miss Dixie's Bassett Hounds.
I doubt the snake was 10 ft, unless it was somebody's pet constrictor that got loose. Very rarely would even encounter one of the 3 poisonous varieties, especially in a residential section. Could have been a rat snake or gopher snake, but 5-6' is very large and they are about as large as it gets in middle TN.
BTW, the cottonmouth in the newspaper was likely a bit of optical illusion. Any object will very large compared to the background object if it is much closer to the camera lens than the comparative object.
If you look carefully at the photo, you can tell the guy is holding the snake with a large stick and it appears he is holding out towards the camera, just to get this effect. If he were holding next to him, he would likely just hold the snake with his hand.
Tony
I think Mr. Mowtown might've been a little spooked, which is ok and I will forgive him for that. Comparing pictures from the internet and what the neighbor said, we came to the conclusion it was a rat/chicken snake. Which, through the research, we found won't hurt you except might cause you to have put on a clean pair of drawers.
I ran right over a snake today in the minivan. It was just a little garter snake and I actually tried not to, but by the time I saw it, it was to late.
Poor snake.
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