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August 7, 2009

Summer Memories

I hope y’all are not finding my snake stories boring. They do get a little less skin crawly the further back I go in my memories. Maybe because they were not quite as close as this one or it could be they are old enough that they don’t pose a threat anymore. This snake expose' believe it or not does not involve a copperhead but it does contain one of my daughters.

It was a pretty summer day, snakes like summer days. My oldest daughter, an only child at that time, wanted to go out for a walk, she was almost 2, so I loaded her up in the stroller and off we went. We lived kind of back off the main road and there were no other houses around.

We were just chatting to each other you know how you do with young children. Picture it as I remember~~~ me in my young vivacious motherly kind of way, “do you see the pretty bird?” and she in her baby-toddler way of “burd.”
“Oh looky there is a yellow flower.” Said I
“Lawloo.” Said she.

We were just strolling along the dirt road like that for a few minutes. Then I spotted it. It was something weird. I stopped pushing the stroller, but little daughter thought nothing of it as she had a ‘lawloo flw’ in her hand. Humm, what the heck? Then it moved. Before that I could have sworn it was a stick just sticking up out of the ground. But no it wasn’t. I was a big black snake. I thought maybe a water moccasin or maybe a whip snake. I didn’t know other then it was black and huge, it stood up about 2 feet tall which meant it was really long as they cannot totally hold their bodies up on their tail.

Having now realized it was a snake and it had us in its eye, so to speak. I started backing up really slowly. My daddy’s words echoed in my ears, “Don’t move, jut back up real slow. Don’t turn around. Don’t run, just back up nice and slow.” I didn’t want to put it more on guard then it already was. I didn’t say anything-just keep backing up slowly and praying that little daughter didn’t start crying or kicking her little feet like kids normally do.

Finally when I felt like we were well out its way I spun the stroller around and keep an eye over my shoulder all the way back to the house. I don’t’ like coming across snakes. They are creepy and I have seen too many television shows telling me how dangerous they can be. And yet this too was not my first snake encounter.

I know, I know when will it ever end these snake stories or mine. Happy dreams my dear internets.

11 comments:

Jeni said...

You can tell all the snaky stories you want cause I know you're just doing it to inform us of some of the run-ins you've had with that type of creature and also, that you dislike them immensely -same as I do!

Jannie Funster said...

I just left a funny funny comment and Blogger ate it and I'm pissed right now.

Harumph.

In short, snake poop is brown, coyote poop has fur in it and I don't poop because I was immaculately conceived.

And it must've been terrifying praying your daughter would be still as you backed ever-so-gingerly sway.

Oh, and I loved your "young vivacious motherly way" image. Cute.

teahouse said...

I'm glad your daughter was totally clueless the whole time this was happening!

Sometimes I think snakes get a bad rap. We are all God's creatures! :o) I'm glad you got away from that particular one, though.

... Paige said...

Yes, dislike, immensely and totally. Ya know blogger eats all my funny comments too. What’s up with that anyway? Rhetorical no answer needed.

I can’t say I have seen snake poop although if I were weak in the bowels…ah never mind

God has looked out for me many, many times with maybe 3 more snake escapes stories to go from the past and if ever I come across more for the future I hope they too will be my escapes.

sheila said...

HOLY CRAP! Snakes scare the crap out of me. Plus just thinking of the desert life, makes me think they are probably MUCH bigger by you guys...THANK GOD. lol.

I would have got bitten because I soooo would have turned around and run. Good thing you remembered what your dad told you. :)

Tammy said...

This is creepy Paige. I am NOT a snake fan! Luckily, I have only had two brief encounters with a snake. I think I was around 12 when the first one happened and it was a harmless green snake (I think). Nonetheless, i ran just as fast as I would have if it had been a rattler....screaming all the way to the front porch. Mom and Dad thought was dying.

And what do you think about these odd folks who keep them as pets? I cannot figure out what possess people to do that. I mean, the horror stories ya see on TV. The snake turns on them and squeezes somebody to death...or eats the family dog. It is a mystery to me.

Chris Edgar said...

This is one of many snake stories? What's bringing these up for you right now -- you've got me totally curious!

... Paige said...

Holy Crap, you say Sheila says she has holy crap. That’s a miracle. I haven’t told y’all about my little snake but I will get to it.

Hello Chris, glad you dropped by…a while back I had a snake experience while I was cutting some roses by my front porch and I told about it and thought hey I’ll just every so often tell all my dear internets the many, yes MANY snake findings I’ve had.

I don’t like ‘em, nope not one little bit.

Snaggle Tooth said...

Glad you happily survived your ordeal. I'm not generally afraid of snakes, but wary of a posturing one? you bet! Probably was only a rat-snake, not the deadly King snake- but always better safe than sorry!
Did you stop going for walks after that?

J. M. Strother said...

Generally when I run across a snake it goes its way and I go mine. When they get bossy - well that's another matter - time for the square tip shovel, unless I'm 100% sure it's not poisonous. You did great, keeping your cool like that.

My second daughter is deathly afraid of snakes. She'll gladly sacrifice the rest of us as snake bait whenever we go out.
~jon

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I like snake stories and they don't give me nightmares unless you call falling in a pit of snakes a nightmare. hahaha.

I have more than my fare share of snake stories myself and my first wild snake encounter was with a snake flouncing around my neck...before that time I don't think I ever met a snake on such a personal level.