But this gopher snake that got itself stuck-- braided-- into the plastic anti- bird mesh in the garden yesterday tested my patience. Cutting a hot writhing largish snake which is trying to bite you out of plastic mesh with a nail scissors, using hands that only shake with PD tremors when called upon to do something intricate, is no fun at all, especially when said snake is hell- bet on two things: biting and going forward so as to enmesh himself more firmly. But we both survived. Photo by Libby who had no desire to do anything other than laugh at us and shoot the pics.
I am ready for frost.
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My coworkers(at the zoo) had to do this with not one, but TWO Copperheads woven at the SAME TIME in some bird netting put on the ground to protect some Venus Flytraps from goose predation. I was luckily off that day, but I heard it was a purty tricky operation! Both copperheads were PISSED, and definetely trying to bite their rescuers! Some very fine-meshed netting was used to replace the very mangled original, and no snakes have been caught in that since. Speaking of snake removals--I've had my share of Timber Rattlers getting in my dog areas this year, for sure! Just got one out of my Savage-Sam-of-a-Bluetick-Hound's pen(Roland) the other night--he woke me up in the wee hours with that distinct bellowing which means "SNAKE!" I have to hurry, especially with Roland, who won't bay them up long before he goes in for the kill--he has quite a few dead snakes to account for. This is especially dangerous with rattlers, of course! And wouldn't you know it, it WAS a rattler this recent incident! I got Roland away from it before (I thought) he closed on it, and removed the throuroughly infuriated(and no doubt terrified) serpent to a safe container for relocation. Checked Roland over good--no evidence of bites that I could see or feel anywhere--no signs of swelling. So I went back to bed. Next morning, poor Roland's head was as big as a basketball--he HAD been nailed on his cheek. It was touch-and-go for several days, but the tough old hound survived it! I thought I had lost my last trailhound for sure. I just hope he learned something and keeps his distance in the future! Which is what my other dogs tend to do.....L.B.
.....update--Roland is almost fully recovered now, and since the danger is past, we can now joke about the incident, from which Roland has gained a new nickname/term-of-endearment---"Swollen Roland", which in baby talk comes out something like "Swoh-win Woh-win"....L.B.
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