Lions & tigers & bears! Oh My! It's a freaking RATTLESNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had many encounters with rattlers but fortunately they were all outdoors and that was bad enough! I think I would have been eyeing that bookcase for the next year. And I probably would have painted every cable in the Apt. bright orange so it wouldn't look like a snake. And checking under the sheets before I got in them. And the toe kicks in the kitchen & bath &, &, &, &....... You see, I tend to have a very vivid imagination which can run away with me from time to time. Cool in an emergency but when it's all over...... I would have been seeing rattlers in the house for the next several years.

That's one hairy experience.

It was, indeed.

And yes, I was very careful about any shadowed spots where something might lurk, for quite awhile. For that matter, so was my friend Katie, and the snake wasn't anywhere near her house, nor did her husband bring it home with him.

Runaway imaginations.

Although I've found 2 or 3 small snakes in my house in the last few years, none have been rattlers. However, I killed a rattler about 3 feet from my back door a couple of years ago, and hubby killed another in the yard about 10 ft from the door (the cat was watching it from the "safe" side of the gate, and was so focused on the snake that was coiled and rattling, that he went straight up when hubby shot the snake with a .22 loaded with a birdshot shell. The snake was history, except for the memory. I still look in that place for snakes in the summer, and I check around the back door before stepping outside.

Oh my goodness We had a coral snake in the screen room one morning. Bill was headed out..I wasn't up yet when I heard him yell "Gin get the gun!" OK fine. Went out and there it was BEAUTIFUL in the corner. As i sat on the cooler wearing nothing but a tee shirt and holding the .22 it moved over by the extra propagne tank. Alrighty then...missed shot means history not only for the snake, but also us. Bill tried to move it and it went UNDER the tank Pick up tank..snake starts to move..put tank down with some force..snake and tank are now one. Still have it in a jar of alcohol.

Then there was the baby diamond back that I almost stepped on. Got the .357 and gave it to Bill. Now we are inches away from this thing...after shot #5 I asked Bill if he was gonna shoot it or scare it to death #6 hit the mark...it is also in a jar of alcohol

gingin said:

Then there was the baby diamond back that I almost stepped on. Got the .357 and gave it to Bill. Now we are inches away from this thing...after shot #5 I asked Bill if he was gonna shoot it or scare it to death #6 hit the mark...it is also in a jar of alcohol

Gun control means hitting what you aim at, right?

Good one Mary!

works for me

Okay, since we're telling our stories of our "Close Encounters of the Slithering Kind" I'll share mine:

I came a hair's breath from being bitten once (nw of Tallahassee, Fl.). We had a cattle gate at our driveway which I would get out & open. I just knew 1 day there would be a rattler waiting there in the spot where I would stand after opening the gate. A 3' wide spot between the open gate & and an oak tree. DH liked to tease me by bumping the car forward as I was opening the gate & I told him 1 day there would be a rattler there where I would jump into the spot. I had such strong & prolonged premonitions that I developed an escape plan for such an event. My plan was this: I would jump on the rungs of the gate & from there be able to climb into the oak tree up high away from danger. It so happens that I broke my wrist 2 days before the incident & my arm was in a cast from fingers to elbow & still quite painful. Well, you guessed it. There he was, coiled & rattling, fat & 6' long. It was high summer so I had flip flops on & my toe landed 2" from his snout. My world both stood still & zoomed all at one time. I couldn't climb the gate with my arm. It's astounding how rapidly your brain works in these situations. They say we only use 10% of our brain but during that nanosecond I think every molecule in my brain was working. A million crystal clear thoughts & decisions went through my mind in the space of a heartbeat. I don't know how I did it but managed to pivot on my toe & with wings on my feet MOVED LIKE LIGHTNING! All I could think was that I needed to get beyond striking distance FAST. I could see in my minds eye, myself not getting far enough fast enough & the darned snake sinking his fangs into my BUTT as I am a short person. Then I thought, "how does one put a tourniquet on a butt? Not possible. Gotta get bit on the thigh so I can put a tourniquet on otherwise I won't make it to the hospital". I must have flown because I managed to get far enough away & get on the hood of the car without getting bitten. DH finally figured out what was happening (this took only seconds) & got the shotgun out of the car & dispatched the rattler.
An experience I hope never to repeat in my life.
But for a long time after it happened I swear I had PTSD from it. I realized it & forced myself to go out & sit in the yard. Each time getting closer & closer to the woods. At first the sound of cicadas made my mind warp into the rattlers buzz or the sound of a rainbird sprinkler would do it. But I faced my fear little by little & got over it.
That was a about 25 years ago. DH had not wanted to kill the rattler as it remained coiled & buzzing but it never did strike. But I had INSISTED. I think it was the right thing for me at the time but if it happened today I'm not sure I wouldn't let the snake go his own way.

Yeeesh! Glad you're ok

Me too.

Oh, I'm fine now. But I realized I wasn't going to be if I didn't tackle the situation right away. And I have always done a lot of stomping & tromping through the woods, scrub, & swamp. I love to. And if I hadn't gotten over this then I would never do those things again so I had to conquer it.

yep!