Sat. night, in the dark... I've still got it...that's the buzz

[texasjohn]

Tonight I cleaned the filter in my shop vac... got sawdust everywhre, including blown all over me and on my glasses, which does nothing for visibility. Then, after dark, I turned on too many tools/lights and popped the circuit breaker in the house that is feeding the work shop until I complete electrification from the power pole.

So, I grabbed my headlight with little red LED and headed out across the dark yard, with 6-9 inch grass/weeds since I haven't mowed yet this spring, along the familar route to the house, about 40 steps away. Passing the front of my Toyota, there was an interesting buzz about 4 inches from my left foot, so I detoured just a bit.

I popped the trunk, removed the tire iron, about 8 inches long, started car and backed it up about 2 feet. A careful inspection showed an observant rattlesnake barely visible in the grassy car headlight shadows. One blow on the head with the tire iron and it was all over.

I went into the house,told my dear wife that my glasses needed cleaning and since I had something for her, maybe she would clean them for me

I handed her the glasses and went back out and retrieved the snake... am sure glad she got the glasses cleaned BEFORE I got back with the snake. She was in no mood to be accomodating afterwards, indicating that I should remove it to anywhere but the house

Snake is 4 feet, 4 inches long... photos taken with phone camera will be posted tomorrow when I'm at my computer where I can download them from the phone. Not the biggest I've run into, but the first this year or last year and enough to get my attention!

Glad to know I've still got it!

 

[BTDT]

Ain't country livin' great. Glad you got him and not the other way round.

 

[Thomas]

"Snake is 4 feet, 4 inches long"....and you use a tire iron in the dark w/dirty glasses...son of B&%$H...you should consider trying out for baseball team.

 

[thatguy]

Snakes are my worst fears for when we take our dog for a walk at night.. I have only seen one blacksnake when bush hogging here, but we killed a copperhead one night in our old subdivision right in town..

AND I agree, you are a brave man for going after the snake with a tire iron.. My prefered tool is a .22 w/ rat shot or a LONG handled hoe.. lol but thats just me, im a whimp.. ;-)

Brian

 

[Thomas]

lol but thats just me, im a whimp.. ;-)
Brian

I as well Brian.

 

[thcri]

I don't care what kind of snake it is. I hate them and am scared of them. Call me whimp too.


murph

 

[ToddW]

I don't care what kind of snake it is. I hate them and am scared of them. Call me whimp too.


murph

I'm in for the wimp category as well.

/Todd

 

[LoneCowboy]

Me and Indiana Jones have the same fear.
I hate snakes

 

[jinman]

Wonderful thing about rattlers...they'll normally warn you unless you completely surprise them. If it had been in the hot summer, that snake may have been a little faster too.

I still remember coming on a big cottonmouth with a fish in it's mouth at the edge of my pond. I told my 80 yr old dad that I was going back to the house for a hoe and he laughed at me. He picked up a short but strong limb and with one whack dispatched the snake to snake heaven. He looked at me and smiled and said, "He'd have been gone by the time you got back with a hoe." I just love being shown up by an 80 yr old...

 

[texasjohn]

Finally got to where I can upload photos... all shot in my new shop with the circuit breaker reset... I used my phone camera, am impressed with the way they came out... bare concrete, hard for a snake to hide

Yellow thing is ruler... snake is next to it.





I guess that I'm kinda like your dad, jinman, I figured he'd be gone by the time I got to my arsenal, or even to a longer handled tool... so... I went with what was available.