Friday, May 6, 2011

Swamp Critter

Black Rat Snake
Stepping out the door can be an adventure when living next to the Dismal Swamp.  Especially when we aren't looking for one.  I sometimes forget how easily we can leave our modern environs and find ourselves face to face with the wild side.  Case in point, the above snake was sitting pretty just outside the front door on the porch.  Comfy looking wasn't he?  Wasn't in a hurry to get from point A to point B, which was somewhere OFF the steps and not hanging out in my basket of pine trimmings! 

I am not comfortable with snakes.  Don't like them.  Just a personal aversion.  So, I called animal control and found out they don't deal with snakes.  Got a possum?  Fine.  Got a coon?  Fine.  Got somebody's hunting dog?  Fine.  No snakes.   The gentleman was kind and offered to give me three numbers to call for someone to come and see about the snake.  Trouble was two were in Virginia and one was over in the Outer Banks.   Fine.  By the time they drove the hour to here, the snake would have set up housekeeping and charging ME rent!  So, I sucked it up, grabbed a broom and evicted the snake gently by dumping it into the wild ginger off to the side next to the pond.  Actually, the snake made a one point landing and the roll of paper towels that you see directly under it became more airborne than I had anticipated landing squarely in the pond.   They truly were super absorbent, picking up loads of water in record time and sinking to the bottom.  I'm fishing wads of wet paper towels out of the pond and have no clue where the snake has slithered off to.  I do hope it has a good day.  Mine is bit soggy at the moment.

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