Add "snake killing" to the list...
... of unanticipated things to which getting married has led me.
Friday afternoon I pulled into the garage and saw something that required a second look. I pulled back out and discovered it was a snake. Just a little guy. A little guy with an immature rattle on the tip of his tail.
ALIVE.
Short of the long, I killed it. With my car. It was awful. I hated it. But the thought of it striking one of the dogs convinced me it was the thing to do. The only youngish male neighbor I know wasn't home and I really would have felt terrible if I killed one of the old people, so I dealt with it myself. After it was dead for a day, I took a picture and sent it to Brandon. He identified it as an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. I looked 'em up, They are considered the most dangerous in North America. Also the rarest in North Carolina and important to the ecosystem and something that shouldn't be killed. Like I didn't feel crappy enough already. Man.
DEAD.
I know its awful, but i think you did the right thing. Baby rattlesnakes are extremely dangerous and can kill humans because they don't know how to control their venom yet - they just go for the gusto and inject you with all they've got! Is there such a thing as "snake repellant?" Where are the others?!?!?!
ReplyDelete*cringe*
We found two baby rattlesnakes in our garage and 3 or 4 in the yard during the last year. I'm all for killing them. What else can you do? Especially with dogs or kids running around.
ReplyDeleteI did buy some snake repellant. It's a granule that smells like moth balls. I sprinkled it around. It's effective for rattlers, but not for Copperheads, which Brandon now thinks that was. Meanwhile, I'm all on edge and jumpy. Yay!
ReplyDeleteI was definitely motivated by the dogs' safety when I decided to kill it. Had they been bitten, I would have been a total basket case, oh, and out several thousand dollars in vet bills.
Growing up in the foothills of Ventura, all the houses in our cul-de-sac had snake "events" except ours.
ReplyDeleteBest thing to do: Call the Fire Dept. if you can't kill it yourself.
Next best thing (after you drive over it with your car and KNOW it is dead): Take a square-head shovel and chop the head off. Rattlesnakes CAN STILL STRIKE when dead and even when the head is detached. Gotta scoop it up and bury it away from the house.
But not while the poochies are looking or they'll dig it up.
I totally would've driven over it too :o)
Carolina dictionary for Kilt:
ReplyDeletewhat Becca did to that damn varmint!
Good job! next is possum or 'coon!
Then your'e on your way to wild boar and mad cow!