My Tango with Mr. Black Snake

Karma-believe in it! What comes around goes around....

Well, I had a dose of my own medicine this afternoon, much to my dislike. Snakes do not bother me, I have never been afraid of them. I have been startled a time or two by one camouflaged in the outdoors. About 10 years ago, I did have a nasty encounter with a cottonmouth one steamy summer afternoon walking down our long driveway. My husband, bless his heart-armed with his 12 gauge, saved me and our little dog from a certain bite. Speaking of my husband, it is no secret he hates snakes, little snakes, big snakes, poisonous snakes, harmless snakes, he dislikes them all. He does not even like to see them at the Zoo. One of his older brothers, was bitten by a copperhead when he was a young teenager, it was a near fatal snakebite, he has a huge scar to prove of his brush with a deadly snake. A fun day of fishing turned into a nightmare. So, I cannot fault my husband for his fear/dislike of snakes but I do tease him a little bit about it-every chance I see him encounter a snake! It is kinda funny to see him run from one, especially a harmless garter snake.

Anyhow, this afternoon, our weather in Oklahoma was excellent, partly sunny, no wind, and about 74 degrees. So, I took advantage of it and spent the better part of the day outside tending to yard and pasture chores, and I planted some pepper plants into 2 huge planters-sweet bell and jalelpeno. My mini pepper garden is home on my front porch for now, until they grow bigger and stronger. I brushed and curried my horse, pulling his quarter horse style cut mane until it laid flat, and partially braided his tale. The silly old thing just loves to be pampered and fussed over, I could spend hours grooming him and he'd love every minute of it.

S. was able to come home a bit early from work, about 4:30 p.m. He offered to help me rearrange some hay bales that I was planning on moving. He was standing behind me, I walked behind the grain tubs and there was a huge black snake looking at me, and he did not look too suprised to see me or scared either! I stood there for a minute thinking the snake might go away, I told S. about the snake, he grabbed a shovel incase it came his way. The snake and I had a mini stare down for about a minute, then it started coming towards me instead of away from me like they usually do. So I backed slowly towards the outside. I noticed the faster I moved, the quicker the snake was coming. Of course, my knight in shining armour had taken refuge on the back bumper of his pick-up watching from a safe distance. This was a good sized snake, I'd guess about 5 1/2 ft. Bigger than I wanted to mess with. This kind of snake can get aggressive when they feel threatened and I had seen them act like this before, but not at me. Black snakes can bite, they are not poisonous. Once out in the driveway area, I thought I'd call the snake's bluff. I quickly stopped and stomped my boot thinking it might turn and flee while it was out in the open-nope, the snake stopped and lifted its head. That is when I cut outta there, ran like the devil was trying to catch me and jumped up next to S. on the bumper. S. was having hysterics laughing at me running from a snake. I looked back and the snake had taken off in the opposite direction that I did. It didnt take him long to get out of sight. S. was still chuckling about my sprint to safety an hour after the incident happened. I am sure he'll have no mercy and give me hell about it every chance he can. I suppose I deserve it. Now I know why we havent had a rodent problem!