A Snake in the Grass…err…Weeds
So when I got home yesterday, there was an ENORMOUS snake stretched out across my driveway.
Well…there was a snake, anyway.
Despite having lived basically in the woods for over 13 years, this is the first snake I’ve seen near the house (about 50 feet away). And that’s okay by me. Actually, I can only remember seeing one other snake on the property, years ago. I’ll admit that I thought of running this one over, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Louis was with me (my dog), so I really wanted that snake gone before we got out of the car. He seemed to have his own plans, however. I had to pull up to him twice before he slithered off the driveway and into the weeds, but then he just froze where he was. I left Louis in the car, figuring I could scare him off by hand, so to speak. I threw two sticks at him and a little rock. And an acorn.
What I learned from this, primarily, is that I have terrible aim. I also learned that snakes have a lot of stamina. You would have thought he was stuffed.
Naturally, my next thoughts revolved around my camera. I wanted that snake to go, but not before I could get Louis in the house and my camera out. Done and done. And don’t you know that snake looked exactly the same when I came back out? I spent the next 10 or 15 minutes blinding it with my flash. That’ll teach him.
Here you go:
He stayed perfectly still while I pulled out two weeds by his head so I could get a clearer shot. What was I thinking?
.
Here you can see the giganticness of his enormity. And also you can see how big he was. I'm not exaggerating. At all. Very much. All those green things are trees. Swear.
.
I bravely got super-duper close....with my zoom.
.
My mother is terribly afraid of snakes – like crazy afraid. Like she acts like a crazy person if she thinks there’s a snake. To the point of being afraid of toy snakes. She’s so afraid of snakes that I can make fun of her crazy snake fear all I want here. I know she won’t read this, because she’s so crazy afraid, that she won’t be able to look at the pictures.
Crazy.
I mean, I’m not afraid of toy sharks. Please.
I’m a little afraid of toy zombies. But that only makes sense.
.
Query this:
What Are You So Afraid Of?
.
Related articles
- ‘Slither’ exhibit shows magic of snakes, lizards (sfgate.com)
- Serpent Still Lifes (neatorama.com)
steadily skipping stones 
OH MY! what were you thinking! RUN! RUN! RUN! over it if you have too! ewe yuck! and then you had the guts to pull weeds…you never pull weeds..HMM maybe you need to put more snakes out there!
I was nervous at first, but he just sat there, exactly the same. So I reached out and pulled the first one. And he never moved. I’ll admit that I mostly pushed the second one over with a stick, but still.
Yeah, it was pretty stupid.
Did you not learn anything from your Mom? Did you forget about the ditch incident??? I mean that one could have, somehow, gotten into the car through the wheels or motor or something if I hadn’t tried to get around him, and how did I know the ditch was so deep? I was only trying to protect my children and niece and nephew.
It only took me a little while to get this to scroll so I didn’t see all the reptile. He is huge, gigantic and viscous. Love the blog.
Oh.
Hi Mommy.
Actually, I did forget “the ditch incident”. I can only assume that was Cindy and Joey with us here at the farm. Or, as we used to call it, “down to the country”. I still call it that sometimes – of course, I still call it a farm, too, and it hasn’t been one for 20+ years. Daddy was right about one thing leading to another, because now I’m thinking about the nature of memory.
What I was remembering is when we were all down to the country (on the farm), bailing hay. We were moving the hay from the wagon into the barn and I saw a snake skin tied up in one of the bales. I think Cindy & Joey were there that time, too – it seems to me that there were about 5 of us in or near the wagon. Remember how the wagon had those tall, thin, rickety sides? I said, “It’s only the skin.” I was a kind and wonderful daughter who only wanted to spare you the anxiety of snake fear. I can still – to my dying day I will remember this – see you swinging from the side of that wagon. For the life of me, I don’t know how you held on and how the wagon side held up.
I can see Joey laughing and laughing, but I don’t know if that is just a trick of my memory. It’s the kind of thing he would have loved.
Michelle, I loved this story and Jacque’s response made me laugh as if I was there. I worry about you down in country but after seeing your boldness of getting so close to this gigantic snake, I think you can handle just about anything out there! Pictures were really cool too!
Haha – he wasn’t as big as I make him out to be! He was probably only about 4 feet long, and I was about 3 feet away. If he had been anything but a black snake, I would have been taking pictures from inside the car. Although, afterwards my Dad said some black snakes are aggressive, “Did it have a little color on his underneath?” Um, white. Is that bad? Feeling safe and actually being safe are two different things!
I remember Momma hanging from the side of the wagon. I remember you telling her that it was dead, so she wouldn’t see it and get upset. About as soon as you said that — up and over she went. What’s funny about that memory, is that’s where it ends. I cannot for the life of me remember how she got down. She was hanging there, and it was still pretty high off the ground. I also remember eating lunch in the barn and someone throwing their brown glove near her and her freaking out. And I remember her finding that snake in the shed at Nannies, and her hitailing it across the yard and up the stairs. I was real little, and she flew by me just a screaming. Save the kids my butt, she left me in the yard.
That’s so interesting, because that’s as far as my memory of it goes, too. I guess that was the part that made the biggest impression. And lets face it, does it matter how she got down when we tell this story? The hanging off the side of the wagon is the key element :). I can see her so clearly, just hanging onto that I guess you’d call it a wall. But I know my memory plays tricks on me, because I was clearly in the wagon, but I picture it as though I was on the outside of the wagon. It wasn’t even a dead snake, it was a skin (I think, LOL). I “remember” saying, “It’s just the skin, it’s just the skin.” But I knew she would freak out anyway. And she did.
I don’t remember about the glove at all. I kind of remember about the shed, but not like I was there. I may not have been there, maybe just told about it. What I do remember is being up on the top of the slide at the house in Richmond. You would have been Amanda’s age or younger. I don’t remember seeing a snake, I just remember that there was one and Momma was going after it with a hoe, I think. But I do remember that we had to stay at the top of the slide. Actually, pretty much all of my memories are a view from the outside. Is that strange, or is it normal? If I’m remembering something I was doing, I see myself in the scene. I don’t see it as I would have, from my own point of view.
Also, thank you for coming to see my blog and for commenting! I’m very happy to see you here.
she was hanging on the outside of the wagon. She flipped over the top trying to get out, and it was so high she ended up just hanging onto the top. But she was on the outside. I’m sure we must have jumped out of the waggon to watch.
Hah! No doubt!
Hi! Thank you for the kind comment you left about my work!
I am impressed with your ginormous snake, and your intrepid courage as you faced up to it. Actually, you gotta admit, it is a handsome beastie you got there, and I think he is eating any mice, etc you might have in the area. So, friend. Really. Remember not all friends look the way we expect them to….:)
I enjoyed the quick tour of your site I just took- am looking forward to coming back!
Best-
Melissa
Yes, he is quite lovely. I just had to take a bunch of pictures. My initial fear said, “kill it!”, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Ironically, I did run over a snake the next day. I came around a curve and there he was, I couldn’t stop. It was so terrible, I was surprised how much it bothered me, how heartsick I felt. I just kept thinking, “poor thing, that poor thing.” Pain is pain, no matter how big or small we are. I don’t like inflicting pain.
Thanks for the return visit and for commenting! It’s so great to hear what people are thinking when they stop by. Nice comments are good medicine for a rough day.