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I’m Really Trying

My inner coward is about to get the best of me.   Not even thinking about the spiders . . but I am still thinking about the spiders . . tonight I was in the sewing room and Vince came in and told me that when he was giving the chickens fresh water, inside the coop he saw the biggest scorpion he had ever seen.  He killed it.

I finished up in the sewing room and went out to water the garden.  I grabbed my “pickin’ basket” because I was going to pick tomatoes, and cut okra.  I was bee-bopping along, singing a song, wearing those blasted flip flops – because you know spiders live in my boots, and besides, those are just rubber boots and not snake boots – and I came about 6” from stepping on a 4’ long rattlesnake.  I saw him, and saw the rattles and that was probably as scared as I’ve been in a long time!  Thank goodness Vince was outside getting the bantams locked up for the night and I yelled for him . . Vince!  Come quick!  It’s a rattlesnake.

One less rattlesnake around here but I know there are plenty more where that one came from . . plenty more rattlesnakes, plenty more scorpions, plenty more brown recluse spiders and plenty more black widow spiders.  I’m not sure there’s plenty more courage left inside me though.

Seriously, we’re here.  We have no choice but to stay.  I was having a bit of a meltdown and Vince said “This is what you’ve always wanted!  (I remember asking for a little house with acreage but I sure don’t remember asking for snakes and scorpions.)  We have a lot of money tied up in this place, not to mention my job is here.  We can’t leave.”  I know that!  I’m not a quitter but tonight . . I’m just a bit jumpy and nervous.  I didn’t pick any vegetables!

New snake boots have been ordered for both of us.  The ones I have are fleece lined for winter so the ones I ordered are light weight and supposed to be 100% snake proof (from Bass Pro).  Having them and not wearing them isn’t going to do me any good though.  It’s so hot to have to wear thick, heavy boots but I guess being bit by a rattlesnake is worse.

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Comments

    • We knew there were snakes and critters here, but I guess I just wasn’t expecting there to be so many. I just wasn’t expecting so many and having them around ALL the time!

  2. Judy, the love you have for your home comes thru in every post. You just have had a few bad days. Remember that post you wrote a day or so ago bout looking for happiness in bad situations? Take your own advce!

    I have a story for you. This morning i let my guineas out and went in the coop to give them more feed. Last nite i saw five eggs in there and made a mentl note to get them out as i don’t want my hen to go broody. So i’m fiddleing around in the coop with the birds hopping around me…i go for the eggs and see a 6ft. Black snake with his head in the nest! His tail was right by the feeder and i never saw him. I left him in there and when i went to put the guineas to bed tonite he was gone and so were all five eggs. Who knew a snake would eat that many eggs in one sitting! The birds aren’t bothered by the snake at all. He started coming around last year and DH would get him out but we gave up since he kept comimg back. We don’t kill a black snake
    Of course a rattler is a different story..
    Similar to our copperheads. ..now i would run from one of those!

  3. Oh, Judy. I could not do what you are doing. I guess you need to wear snake boots all the time. And snake pants too!

  4. You are one brave lady. My sister has been bitten by snakes three times. Once in the garden, once in the strawberry patch, and once in her own garage. I refuse to grow strawberries or anything else where I have to put my hands into plants near the ground. Of course, I’m a big chicken. You truly are brave to kill a rattlesnake, I would have run away screaming . . .

  6. Spiders and scorpions and snakes, OH MY! …..maybe put shower caps on your snake boots when you aren’t wearing them so spiders don’t crawl inside 🙂

  7. Hey, how come no one is giving you grief for killing the rattlesnake???? When I blogged about killing a rattlesnake I had negative, nasty comments. I too get a little spooked when we see a rattlesnake especially if it gets away. No scorpions in Montana and not very many spiders where we live–just rattlesnakes.

  8. Yes, snake proof boots ALL the time no exceptions. Doesn’t matter what the temperature is if you want to be safe. My husband is down on our land near Brady now and he has never gone without wearing snake proof boots for over 50 years. Killed more rattlers than you would care to know about. Bringing back the rattles to our boys was always a highlight to them. When y’all (yes I’m a Texan) first moved in and showed pictures of no protection on your feet and legs, I was hoping it wouldn’t take long until you realized it is needed. Your place sounds so peaceful, you just have to understand the precautions that are part of your new way of life. It’s not worth taking chances.

  9. Deal breaker for me. Terrified of any snake. Don’t want to kill one. Don’t want to live near one. You better watch it. They’ll get into the nests. My dog alerted to one many years ago when out in a field in the way back of the yard. I told my husband. He didn’t believe me. The next morning I went to work. He piddlef around at home esp. in the garage. Finally decided to go somewhere after walking IN AND OUT. When he hit the button to put down the garage door guess what hit the driveway with a HUGE PLOP. The biggest, fattest, longest snake you have ever seen…the one from the field. And hubby had been walking in an out w/ that creature who must have ridden up when we raised the door that morning. I about had a heart attack when I cam home that afternoon and heard the story. He had killed it and it was in a bag for disposal.

  10. Living here at the bottom of the world (New Zeland) we’re rather lucky … no snakes, scorpions, mountain lions or bears. We do have a Katipo spider, a distant relative to the black widow and similar to the Australian redback although not a common sight. I’m beginning to think we lead rather sheltered lives down here …!

  11. Judy having dealt with that when we were living out in the boonies, and come faces to fangs with a rattler I was able to run back into the house and get the shotgun cause I sure wasnt going to get too close to it and ran back out to the back fence where the dogs were keeping it entertained for me and my daughter was freaking out on the other side of me. I handed her the light and told her where to shine it. First shot sent the dogs running back into the house. Can’t believe i hit it on the first shot as bad as I was shaking :0! The worst part of it was the next morning before I left for work I went to make sure it was still out there and dead and it was! Buttttt when I got home it was gone. So I figured some animal found it and dragged it away. Little did I know that my little Schnauzer had other plans for the present he laid beside my bed that night. Fortunately before my feet hit the floor I got up on the other side of the bed and went to the kitchen to make coffee. When I came back in and flipped the light on there laid that snake all stretched out for me compliments of course of my little dog. I was shaking so bad as I got the broom and swept it into a box. Ruined my whole day it did! Don’t know if I told you this story before but we put sulfer around the dog pen and the house and never saw another snake and we were out there in the middle of 40 acres for 5 years.

  12. I feel bad for you Judy. In my area of MA there are no rattlenakes or scorpions. we live on the edge of the river though and once when I went to the mailbox I saw a black snake slither as I approached. good thing because I was getting ready to tell Uncle Sam to hold my mail at the postoffice! I feel your pain. what is a snake’s natural enemy- owls? I would get me some QUICK hugs coming your way and a boo boo bunny to ease your pain.

  13. Snakes! I really hate snakes, serious phobia, started years ago, won’t tell the story, but it wasn’t pretty. Here in Florida, we live on the edge of the woods, and I used to see snakes every so often, not so much anymore since a big fire a couple of years ago. I saw one once on my driveway, and my kids got to stay in the van until “Mommy drives over the snake with her van” Yep, my poor kids know I hate snakes. I was out gardening one day and ran screaming from what I thought was a snake in the backyard, but my neighbor informed me it was just an intact snake skin. – shudder- I don’t know if I could even leave the house for a few days after coming so close to stepping on one. You are definitely braver than I am! But don’t let the fear stop you from enjoying your garden and being outside enjoying where you live, just wear the snake boots and carry a long stick.:)

  14. The thing is, no matter where in the country we are, if you’re out “in the country” we’re going to find those stinking things!! We wear our boots (we don’t have rattlers here, but we have killed water moccasins and copperheads — such fun), we keep a sharp eye out for things like scorpions (we’ve got those here, too) and spiders — and we respect their abilities and learn about them so we have a better idea of where/when we might expect them! And we kill ’em when we can. LOL! It is overwhelming at first — especially with your bad spider experiences in the last couple of weeks. It’ll tame down! 🙂

  15. Why don’t you ask some of the local people who were raid there how they deal with things. I am sure that they probably have some suggestions that have been handed down through the families.

  16. Judy,

    I feel your pain. Growing up in southeast Texas in the middle of nowhere, we always had water moccassins in our house. I have a serious snake phobia. Have you thought about getting a couple of outdoor cats? This should with the snake problem.

  17. I am getting ready to go pick beans and I wished I hadn’t read this blog before hand… LOL. We have rattlers, copperheads, black snakes and king snakes and this is in NW Arkansas. All are fair game to be killed except the king snakes. They kill and eat copperheads. My husband kills every blacksnake he can because they eat eggs and we suspect baby chicks, too. Several have come up missing, then a blacksnake appears. They eat mice and rats, so why not chicks?? A neighbor was bitten by a blacksnake and ended up with a nasty infection and a hospital stay. I take my Jack Russells in the fenced garden with me. They even alert me to the snake skins. I do use a long stick to move the vines around, especially now that it’s so dry and they like to be under the cool vines. Guess we will just garden with the snakes and spiders. I pray for your safety as I do ours everyday!!

  18. I would be jumpy too – but you are a GITTER DONE kind of gal and I know that you will work through the obstacles…..you are BRAVE. Have you thought about getting another dog to go outside with you and protect you from critters? My dog chases moles and mice……..I wonder if he would tangle with a snake? Your snake boots should do the trick!!!

    One thing I know for sure is that cats tend to attack snakes…..I have indoor cats but my neighbor’s cats seem to take pride in conquering the snake population.

    BE CAREFUL!!!
    sao in Midlothian, VA

  19. When we lived in Asia the locals always had walking sticks with them and not for walking-more for beating the brush so the snakes would go the other way. You may want to add that to your going to the garden routine. The snakes probably figure that extra shade ( veggie plants) and you watering your garden is just for them!!! Be careful you don’t need to add snake bite to your list of what’s happened!

  21. Hi – I also live in snake country. You will get used to them as they will get used to you. If your property was vacant prior to moving in the snakes are used to having it all to themselves. They tend to be very seasonal and will come out to sun themselves. I work at a college and during the warm months all classroom doors have to be kept closed because they will come into the classes. We are not allowed to kill them but must re-locate them in an acceptable area. When we have them at the house they are not re-located.

    It is worth putting up with the ‘wildlife’ to have the home that you love.

  22. My sympathies are with you. Although I was and am a city girl, most of my family lived in the country – south TX – where rattlesnakes and all kinds of nasties dwell. I’ve been warned since I learned to walk to “watch for snakes.” Constantly!!! and I’ve seen some big ones crossing the road on my uncle’s ranch. That’s why I have a phobia about snakes I guess. But I am very watchful. Very, Very watchful.

  23. This is not the time to bring it up, but I am. I was amazed to see a darling pitbull on CNN this a.m. His lower jowl was blown up and swollen. He had been bitten by a rattlesnake. He is fine, but he looked so sad. I do not wish the same for you–WEAR THOSE BOOTS. Don’t think I could take it, our garter snakes scare me!

  24. Okay… You’ve convinced me. I’ve only have slightly more than an acre of land; but, still… It’s really wild out there. There’s a neighbor whom I call “The farmer”. He has a bull, cow and a mule he tends to and he has slightly more than a acre of land also . Another neighbor has two cows. Next door neighbors has two dogs and doesn’t mow most of his land! No telling what’s out there! And, I’ve walked my land and seen some holes in the ground (assuming it’s moles at the moment). Since I’m deaf, I might not even hear the warnings of the rattles. So, I’m going to the Bass Pro shop soon to get me some damn expensive snake boots. LOL 🙂

  27. so sorry Judy, I been offline a lot and I forgot which spider I was trying to tell you about, yes the darn thing is in fact what you called it, and the snakes are everywhere, we have coral and rattlers. the weeds got out of hand due to DH quit mowing, and I wont pick the garden, he has too. and he doesnt do that, we have had rain everyday for a week I think. Brown recluse are STAY AWAYS forever Judy, and the darn black widows are way
    too much for me to fight against. Although I heard that soem things will keep them away, I have never tried them and wont. Watch out for the new chicken eggs for sure. put your boots in sealed plastic bags each time you pull your foot out. and still cehck them before you put them back on! Welcome to the TX country!

  28. I am so afraid of snakes that I’d have a really hard time with that, but….I know you will get beyond it. You are much braver than I am….that’s for sure.

  29. Judy, your Texas adventures are always exciting to read… but I’ll take the below zero days of a Minnesota winter any day for the privilege of having the nearest snake be at the zoo!

  30. Snakes love eggs so just be on guard. I have heard that guineas will keep snakes away and cats, but I know you’re not a cat fan and guineas are noisy critters. Hang in there. The other day I heard something that sounded like a rattlesnake and I just about wet my britches. Turns out it was a leak in the hose. LOL. Glad I didn’t holler at DH, he would have never let me live that down.

  31. One less rattlesnake in the world — Vince is a good guy! I’m feeling safer even if I don’t live in rattlesnake country anymore. Scorpions don’t sound fun either. I guess I wouldn’t make it in Texas! I do love reading about your life there though. May the rest of your summer be free of nasty critters!

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