The Unwanted Visitor

It's the call you never want to get. No, not that one... everyone is fine. I'm talking about the one that causes panic like no other. "There's a SNAKE in the House!"

Yes, I got the call (luckily he wasn't in my house) but poor Mama was on the other end of the phone in a major panic. She has been terrified of snakes her whole life and to see one climbing on her kitchen window.... You just cannot comprehend what that call sounded like!

Our snakes after hummingbirds, 2002

At first I thought the snake was outside the kitchen window. "He's just after the hummingbirds" I told her, not remembering that she doesn't have feeders this year. I was thinking of the time we had a snake on our door doing that.

The timing couldn't have been worse. Danny and my brother were both out in different directions having cars work done. So this was now a case of the blind rescuing the blind! I told Mom I'd call a neighbor and for her to keep an eye on the intruder. Losing sight of him would be the worse case scenario.

By chance neighbor Austin was home and not 'up the country.' Alice sent him right over. He arrived as I did, armed with a hoe fork & a pine cone picker-upper. By the time we got in the kitchen we saw a HUGE crooked black line draped over the soap dispenser, paper towel holder, the mixer and other items on the counter. He was heading to the corner! And we needed to get him before he rounded that corner and made it behind the stove.

I went to open the back door since I would NOT be holding it when the exit happened, while Austin started moving items and trying to grab the snake with the not-quite-strong-enough picker-up. The knife block fell over scattering smaller knives across the counter and Austin managed to turn the snake back towards the corner instead of the stove and got a hand on his tail.

I was standing right behind Austin and when he said to back up I did just that. I wished I'd been a bit quicker because the next thing I saw was a snake head coming towards my face as Austin whipped the snake off the counter.

I'll never forget the sight I saw next of Austin standing in the middle of the kitchen swinging the snake round and round. (where was a camera when you needed it)? OMG! Please don't let him slip through his fingers! Austin quickly made his way to the back door. I could hear the snake hit the door facing as they passed through the threshold. I couldn't tell if I was scared to death or scarred for life by this, the craziest thing I've ever witnessed in my life. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Crisis averted we went back to the living room where Mom had been planted in her chair the whole time keeping a watchful eye on the snake before we had arrived. We all started calming down, my brother and his wife came in and like any good group of hunters do we went back over the story, relating every detail, just like I've done here!

A super big thank you to Austin to coming to our aid! We're still not sure how the 5-6 foot long black snake got in but you can be sure that any holes found have been plugged and the doors are kept closed from now on! I know there are good snakes and bad snakes, but when any come in the house he's automatically on the bad list.

Oh, and when I got back home and looked in the mirror I found a spot of blood between my eyebrows. Slowly I washed it away... there's no scratch, no cut.... Good grief! I have snake blood on me! Totally creeped me out!