Today was not a fun day, although it started out just fine. We went to Firehouse Subs for lunch which is always a good thing. After that we went to the bank & Post Office and that was fine, too.
When we got home I went into the sunroom to look at my hummingbirds, which is my usual routine after being out. I looked at one feeder, there’s still food in it & a hummer on it; that’s fine. Looked at the second feeder, same thing. My eyes swung over to the third feeder & there was what looked like a branch on it, then I saw it move. Nope, that was no branch, it was a snake. Now being the smart aleck that I am I went up to the window & asked what kind of snake are you, I wonder & if it answered me I couldn’t tell because I was still safely in the house, so I called Wayne to see if he could identify this critter. He, too, had no idea. Oh great, now what. ::: lightbulb goes on in my head ::: call Huey. He’s our neighbor & said to call him anytime we have a snake & he’ll come take care of it. His wife, Barbara answered the phone; no, he’s not home.
Geez, what to do. Well, I come in, get my camera & take a few pictures thinking my brother will be able to identify this guy; he knows snakes very, very well. When he was a kid he always had pet snakes, so I was used to seeing them & they didn’t usually bother me unless I couldn’t tell if it was poisonous or not. Then I get a tad antsy. I was definitely antsy by now, especially when I saw it lunge at a hummer & my blood started to boil. Trying to get my hummer is not a way to endear yourself to me. So, scared out of my pants, because I didn’t have a clue what I was dealing with, I got a rake & a shovel. I’ll get this dude! Hooked it with the rake & knocked it to the ground. OH MY GOD, it’s headed right at me... run backward onto the patio & make sure the door is closed tightly but then thought, ‘ that sneaky little thing will probably go right back up & try to get my hummers again.’ So I grabbed the shovel, went back out (since I could no longer see it & didn’t have a clue where it was.) It was trying to climb up the brick, under the window & that wasn’t where I wanted it, so I took the shovel & slammed it into him/her/it. Ok, so now it’s stunned, so I had the upper hand (oh boy was I glad no one was taking my blood pressure right at that moment!) It had fallen to the ground, under the window, so I slammed down the edge of that shovel, right behind it’s head & I pushed & shoved & wiggled it until the shovel was at least 4” into the ground. It kept wiggling it’s body but no way was I going to let up. Finally after what seemed like a half hour, but was more likely only a few minutes I let up on it. Wayne said cover it with dirt so it can’t try to get away... ok did that but then I worried that it would slither out again. I checked it a few times throughout the afternoon & the dirt wasn’t disturbed so I guess it went to snake heaven; either that, or as Wayne said, it’s got a helluva headache.
So, after this adventure, to calm down, I came in & emailed the pictures to my brother, who immediately identified it as a corn snake; ‘harmless,’ he said, ‘unless you’re a hummingbird, of course.’ I almost, kind of, sort of felt bad that I killed a corn snake but then the picture of it lunging at my hummer came back to mind, so that made me feel better about the whole thing.
All in all, I’m glad the whole thing is over. That’s the second snake we’ve seen since we’ve lived here, and to be honest, that’s two too many.
About Me
- Raspberry Tea
- Born in Cleveland, OH. Moved to south Florida in 1966 & lived there until 2003 when we retired in southeast Alabama.
4 comments:
As tough as this is for me to say, you were right to kill the snake. He would not have given up and he would have been back either tomorrow or sometime to eat more hummingbirds, unless you drove him at least three miles away, and I can't see you EVER doing that!
Nature is a cruel thing. I once saw a spider eat a hummingbird. I found it too late to kill it, but I never forgot it. It was sort of, as I describe it, "a mental stop stick" moment. It is stuck in my brain forever.
You can now claim the title of "Saver of Hummers". Okay, not very prestigious and doesn't trip off the tongue, but honorable nonetheless.
Thanx. That makes me feel better. Wasn't a fun thing to do, but HAD to protect my hummers; they're sooo trusting :)
BTW I can't imagine a spider eating a hummingbird..... eeewwww!!!
In my short 52 years, I've had 3 snake encounters...3 too many. The first involved rattlesnakes and a stray cat and took place in Fall of '69 when we lived in TN. The second encounter occurred right here in Conway about 8 rs. ago as I was cleaning the room of the local county library where I, and about 20 other ladies, had just attended a meeting. I don't know who was more surprised ... me or the coral-colored creature that slithered toward me as I ran screaming through the library!! Then about 6 or so years ago, I went outside one hot June afternoon to water my drought-ridden plants, bent down to pick up the fat, green hose that I left stretched out across the sidewalk when to my horror, it MOVED!! My family said that the snake was slithering away from me as fast as I was running in the opposite direction from it. What I'd like is a good snake repellent and an explanation for this weird phenonmenon. Cats and dogs will cuddle up with the person that doesn't like cats and dogs. Does it work that way with snakes, too??
Hi- Welcome to my blog :) Now, tell me truthfully... would you really like to cuddle up with a snake? I mean, let's get real here. Puppies are cute & fuzzy; kittens are cute but they grow into cats & then are so independent that they have to do their own thing and expect you to like doing it with them.
Actually, I've never gotten emotionally close enough to get so attached to a snake that I'd want to cuddle up with it. You're on your own there. However I do know that pepper spray works great to make a snake move quickly in the other direction. Let me know when/if you decide to do some snake-cuddling, k?
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