I am certain that summer has arrived. I know this because my kids are out of school, the temperature has reached the 90’s and I have seen two snakes in my yard.
I was once afraid of lizards. That was before I came face to foot with a nasty little guy inside my house! Upon research we discovered he wasn’t poisonous but he was killed due to trespassing.
It all started with a box of glass vases I received from a young woman whose wedding flowers I was arranging. Her mother ordered the vases from somewhere up north. I stored them in the corner of my bedroom for a couple of weeks so they wouldn’t get broken by the daily chaos of family life.
During this time I was waiting to have back surgery and was on some heavy duty pain medicine. The very fact that I was doing wedding flowers would have been an impossibility if the sweet bride had not opted to use “botanical reproductions”. This allowed me to work a little while, then nap. I was taking one such break one afternoon when I looked down at the foot of my bed and saw a scarf move. Even on pain meds I knew that wasn’t suppose to happen. I picked up the scarf and a small black snake slithered toward me. Without even thinking I stomped the rascal to death with my flip-flop clad foot. I instinctively knew if it decided to slither in the other direction (under my bed) it may never be seen again, or it could join it’s entire family and plan an attack on my already muddled mind. My next reaction surprised me. I started to cry. I had visions of a nest of snakes all cuddled up under my bed in shoes and boxes of letters and dust.
I knew my husband was especially busy that day and fought the temptation to call him. I did the next best thing. I called my son who was then a senior in high school. He was not suppose to have his phone of course but this was a dire emergency! His mother was having a nervous breakdown.
In minutes the front door opened and Braveheart stood there with his shoulder length hair blowing in the breeze. I have never been so happy to see a kid skip school in my life. My sweet boy removed the snake, did a thorough search under my bed and googled the little demon. It was indeed indigenous to the north and had most certainly come in with the vases.
After that day lizards paled in comparison, I have had several in my house as guests of my children. I also welcome chipmunks, squirrels and the occasional praying mantis. Snakes, poisonous or not scare me. I will refrain from stomping the ones outside that I know are harmless. But, I am not claiming to be an expert, so they all should beware.
I am taking recommendations on how to make my yard more snake unfriendly. We have a lot of water and woods surrounding us. We see several snakes per year, but this year they have started earlier and closer to the house than ever, with the exception of Mr. Yankee Snake.