Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

June 25, 2007

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Today’s Stories

SNAKE!

Sharon Bryant

I lived in the north until fifteen years ago.  It was then I moved to Alabama.  I had made three trips down here before deciding if I could tolerate the climate year round.

I don't miss the snow and cold.  I don't miss the icy roads.  I do miss the cooler summers.  Summer lasts so long here and the heat can be miserable.  Yet the hospitality in the south is wonderful.  Folks will always lend a hand to help when needed.

We found a place out in the country with an acre and a half and purchased it.  Coming from a big city, it was hard getting used to living on a one lane road, but I adapted. 

The land had a pond on it.  Our back door faces the pond.  In summer when all the frogs got together for their orchestra nightly, I always felt I was hearing nature at its highest peak for singing.  We filled the pond just last year because it draws snakes.

We purchased three chickens.  Actually one hen and two roosters.  I thought we'd have eggs.  When the hen would lay her eggs and I saw how protective she was of her 'babies', we just let them hatch.  I felt I was doing good for being a city girl adjusting to the country life.

I knew about the fire ants in the south.  I knew about the scorpions and I knew about the snakes.  I didn't know there were so many varieties of snakes.  I didn't know how to tell a poisonous one from a non-poisonous one.  I do now.

We are currently in a drought in the south.  Warnings have been given on the news that snakes are looking for water and are being seen more often than years when it rains.  I really didn't think I had to worry about it, as I've only seen one snake on our land in the fifteen years I've lived here and it was not poisonous.

This week changed all of that.

In our bathroom window each year birds will build a nest.  There are always two nests and I've always loved to watch through the window as the mama bird tends to her babies.  This year one bird built her nest first and the other came in about two weeks later and built her nest on the other end of the window.  I watched the babies from the first nest get flying lessons from their mom's.

This week there were four little birds in the remaining nest.  The mama bird has been tending to them very well.

We were eating supper on our porch three days ago when out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement from the bathroom window.  Knowing the mama bird always gets into the nest, I knew it couldn't be her, plus it was sticking out too far from the window ledge.

It disappeared in seconds.  Again a minute later, I saw movement again and said something to my husband that something was on the window ledge.  He looked then got out of his chair.  I followed him.  He then said, "Better back up, you're not going to like this."

I replied, as I saw something fat sticking from the ledge, "It's a mouse."  "Not a mouse," he said.  "A bat?" I asked.  "No, it's a snake," he said.  My heart started pounding and at that moment the snake came out further from the window.  It had a baby bird in its mouth so it's head was swollen.

My husband ran and got a ladder, rake, and a shovel.  I called my son and he came over with a large machete knife.  We figured when we got it off the ledge, my son would chop it in half.  So much for figuring.

My husband tried to get the rake on the ledge and get the snake to drop down.  The snake became furious, dropped the baby bird in its mouth and struck out at my husband.  Believe me, they strike fast.  It struck with its mouth open.  That worried me because chicken snakes I've been told, do not strike and we figured it was a chicken snake.

It twisted, coiled, struck repeatedly at my husband.  But it would not drop off the window ledge.  We couldn't see the shape of the head because the window is higher up on the house wall.  All I could see from where I was standing was the mouth open and how fast it struck out at my husband.  I saw the color of it and I became alarmed knowing it had colors of a moccasin.

A lot of people do not know how to tell if a snake is poisonous or non-poisonous.  If the head is triangular in shape, it is poisonous.  If it is round, it is non-poisonous.  I had never hoped to get close to one to see what shape the head was.  But when a snake is striking out at you, your instincts tell you, if you don't know, keep your distance.

It took a good fifteen minutes to get the snake hooked on the rake.  It was striking and coiling as my husband pulled it off the window ledge.  My son was ready with the knife.  Yet before you could blink an eye or swing a machete, the snake slithered into the little space where the air conditioner hose came out from under the house.  I became scared that it could work its way into our duct work and get inside our house.  I'm told they won't go where it's cold and not to worry about it.

I can't help it, I do worry about it. 

I was told if you put mothballs around, snakes do not like the smell of them.  So our whole house has mothballs under it now.

Mothballs are dangerous to dogs, which we have three.  They have a fenced in yard so we spread the mothballs away from our fenced in area.

Another thing I'd like to warn people about is hanging plants.  On the Internet there is a story about a woman who bought a hanging plant and when she went to transplant it into the ground, two copperheads were inside the pot on the bottom. 

Another woman just had this happen to her.  The snakes are looking for water, they are burrowing into flower pots.  I would not bring any hanging plants inside my home and I hope others also do not do that.  Once you get a snake into your house, it is hard to find them and catch them. 

I have asked many people some questions who were born and raised here in the south about snakes.  Many know very little.  I am trying to educate myself on the species and how to tell which one is a cottonmouth, a coral, a rattler, a moccasin.  Colors can be deceiving on some.  You may think it's not poisonous when it is.

After what we just went through, I now know how aggressive a snake can be.

If you are bitten, seek medical attention immediately.  The venom can travel through your bloodstream quickly.  A man was bitten by a copperhead last week in my area and within minutes, he became lethargic I was told.   I watched as the rescue squad removed his shoes and laid the man on a picnic table until the ambulance arrived.  Swelling in his leg began immediately. 

A friend of mine was bitten by a copperhead a few years ago.  He was wearing long pants and ankle high boots.  The snake bit him just above the top of his boot.  The ambulance attendants had to cut his pants leg open as his leg began swelling quickly.  He was rushed to the hospital.  A few days after the incident we were discussing snake bites.   He told me when the snake struck him, it was a pain he will never forget.  He said the skin around the bite also began to turn black.

He had been walking on a path and did not see the copperhead sleeping.  He accidentally stepped on its tail when it struck him. 

Each year nearly 8,000 people receive poisonous snake bites in the United States.  Even a bite for a so-called "harmless" snake can cause infection or allergic reaction in some people.  People who frequent wilderness areas, camp, hike, picnic, or live in snake-inhabited areas should be aware of the potential dangers posed by venomous snakes.

Some of the symptoms of poisonous bites are bloody wound, fang marks and swelling, severe localized pain, diarrhea, burning, convulsions, fainting, dizziness, weakness, blurred vision, excessive sweating, fever, increased thirst, loss of muscle coordination, nausea and vomiting, numbness and tingling and rapid pulse.

I always thought fire ants were horrible creatures that made your skin burn terribly.  Right now, after this week, fire ants don't seem that bad.  I'd rather have a fire ant near me than a snake.

Sharon Bryant

1946@bellsouth.net

~**~**~

This I Believe # 5
Bill Walker
missourisage@yahoo.com

This I believe. This land we call the United States, and Canada, the whole of  what is called North and South America,  was stolen by people from Europe. This I believe. The Natives has been pushed from pillar to post to make room for these thieves.

Now that said, these people came from Europe to take up a new life. This I believe. I am only going to speak for what is called the United States of America, as I know it best.

As I remember my school years, it was said, people from different nations came here by way of ships. These came with very little from the old country. These came with a couple or three thoughts. We are leaving the past, the old country. We hope to find a new life, for us, for our children. We will work to make a way. We will melt into the others here. Together we will live and grow. We will pay the dues, we will pay the tax, we will fight for our new country. We will forget the old country, we now have a new country. This I believe. We, the newcomers will not try to change the ones here already, we will do the changing if there is any changing to be done.

So Congressman, Senator, and yes Mr. President, what is your problem? Can you not remember history? Can you not track your family history and see how you came to be here? Somewhere back in time your people came here, worked to make this nation, not tear it apart with old failed ideas of the old countries. Those people came here with hopes and dreams of one thing. Become a good citizen of this wonderful nation, not to
tear it apart at the seams. This I Believe.

These people that came here from day one to form this nation, came for a new and better life. These people knew it would not be easy. These people have paid the dues, the taxes, and served, and sent their sons and daughters to fight the wars. Some even fought against their old country. They now had a new flag to fight under called Old Glory. This I Believe.

These people make up the people of the United States; builders not wreckers of the system. This I Believe.

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

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