I started cleaning out the feed room yesterday.
The day before I killed a baby rattlesnake inside.
The thought was "Were there was one, there could be two"
Just wasn't planning on it being Mama!
After going back to the house and putting on my boots,
I stopped by the garden shed, grabbed the flat noise shovel
and the pointy hoe before returning to the feed room.
By now the hearts pumping.
Pushed the door open with the shovel "No Mama"
With the pointy hoe, I started pulling things out or the feed room.
Chainsaws, buckets, post drivers, feed can.
Anything, I could reach with the pointy hoe from the doorway.
All the time looking for Mama.
It's was one thing to drag all that stuff out and an other
to make sure I had a clear path of retreat.
There She was behind a rubber feeding bucket full of horse brushes.
Coiled !!!
I stepped back out of the feed room, shut the door
and for reasons that only God can answer,
went to the garage and got a fire extinguisher ?
Hell I Don't Know Why !!!???!!!
I had seen it on some TV show back in the 70's and thought
it was a good idea to shot Mama snake with it.
"It worked on TV"
BAD
~
BAD IDEA
~
I shot her twice, the room filled up with a white cloud,
like the fog rolling in on the San Francisco Bay.
All I could think was,
"That's not quite how I remember this working"
~
Plan B....... went to the house, got a Pepsi and
waited for the fog to roll out. Now I was on a mission!!!
It didn't take much for the white cloud to dissipate, of course
Mama snake was not were I had seen her last and everything
in the feed room was now covered with a white blanket.
"What a mess"
I stepped back out of the feed room, shut the door
and for reasons that only God can answer,
went to the garage and got a fire extinguisher ?
Hell I Don't Know Why !!!???!!!
I had seen it on some TV show back in the 70's and thought
it was a good idea to shot Mama snake with it.
"It worked on TV"
BAD
~
BAD IDEA
~
I shot her twice, the room filled up with a white cloud,
like the fog rolling in on the San Francisco Bay.
All I could think was,
"That's not quite how I remember this working"
~
Plan B....... went to the house, got a Pepsi and
waited for the fog to roll out. Now I was on a mission!!!
It didn't take much for the white cloud to dissipate, of course
Mama snake was not were I had seen her last and everything
in the feed room was now covered with a white blanket.
"What a mess"
Pointy hoe in hand, I started pulling more things out,
knowing that when I found her, Mama was going to be less then happy.
I had pulled everything away from the walls, the only thing lift to move
was the Kid's green 4-H show box.
Smacked the box with the shovel and Mama started buzzing.
I couldn't move the box without stepping into the feed room and
that would put mama between me and the door.
Not Happening !!!!!!!
Pushed the flat noise shovel between and box and the wall
like a pry bar, pushing the box away for the wall an me.
Have you ever seen a while rattlesnake?
She was kind of pretty and really ticked off!
Unable to get a hold of her with and shovel or the pointy hoe,
a show stick was hanging on the wall. It's hooked on the end and
I was able to hook her and drag her outside onto the sidewalk
and kill her with my dull shovel..... poor thing.
Never had a snake in a room before and
I don't Like It
So every shed on the place is getting cleaned out starting with
the mess I made in the feed room.
Moral to this story
"Never Shoot Your Rattlesnake With A Fire Extinguisher"
Wish I hadn't
18 comments:
Oh Lord...a fire extinguisher? Seriously, I wished I lived nearby so i could have talked you out of that one! I knew someone who dumped a cup of bleach on one...now you got a "highlighted" blinded snake and a ticked one at that who strikes at heat/movement not sight to begin with!
But good job on cleaning them out -you have to kill them when you find them where people are, because its when people try to MOVE them alive to a new location is usually when they get bit. Otherwise the unwritten rule is leave them alone if theres no people ever around...
Also, heads up, they usually bear babies live and can have up to 10 babies based on their size.. and then momma and babies hang around for about a week afterwards - you should see if she has any eggs left inside, and then be on the lookout for more babies!
That is spooky when you don't know where they are.
One time Mom saw a Copperhead go down the basement steps. Hubby thought how in the world will I find it?
His solution...a cardboard box! He stood in the box and hopped/slid the box while he was looking then used the shovel.
I like the fact that you went to get a Pepsi! First caffeine and every thing works better.
Great job.
You are a good snake hunter..even if you need a tad more training! Yes those Fire extinguishers leave the white powder residue on everything. Time to clean out your entire shed..is it true that some people put large ropes around the perimeter and the snakes won't cross them? I would be on the lookout for more babies too..where there is one there are more:(
Haha a fire extinguisher! Thats a new one! Sure woulda ben good to watch, but a big mess to clean up too.
Well, I haven't found a rattlesnake yet, but I've seen two gopher snakes and some black one (a boa?) at the ranch by the water faucet. I'm always aware of where I put my hands in the tack room, but...who knows?
I hate snakes!! I had one in the lawnmower shed once and screamed like a girl. Terril won't kill them...he says they keep the gophers at bay and when we don't have gophers we don't have badgers....yada.yada.yada.....SO....if I find one I just holler and he puts it in a pail and hauls it off but you're right...if there's one......there's usually a mate at least.
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It was on "Chips". At work watching TV with clients who like "Chips" and they just killed a whole carefully of snakes with two fire extinguishers, with a man inside with them! I laughed! Then googled it. Where I found your intense and a little scary, yet delightful read. Had to post all that. also, glad everything worked out for you.
It was on "Chips". At work watching TV with clients who like "Chips" and they (the Chips) just killed a whole car full of snakes with two fire extinguishers, with a man inside with them! I laughed! Then googled it. Where I found your intense and a little scary, yet delightful read. Had to post all that. also, glad everything worked out for you. Season one Incase you're wondering.
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Squad 51 did use fire extinguishers every time they had to deal with a snake. The diffderence is that they use a CO2 fire extinguisher, not a dry cchemical fire extinguisher.
The CO2 is very cold when it comes out of the extinguisher and the cold is what took of the snakes on that show. In theory, the car full of snakes and the man is plausible, since the snakes are cold-blooded and the man is warn-blooded, BUT a high concentration of CO2 is dangerous to breathe and can kill. Since CO2 is heavier than air, the height of the man's head about the floor may have allowed him not to breathe much concentrated CO2(?)
In 1986, Lake Nyos released a very large cloud (100,000-300,000 tons) of CO2 overnight and 1746 people and 3500 livestock were killed.
I just saw the show the guy was talking about. It was on Emergency!
I saw it just now on Emergency
Yes, that's where I saw it, Emergency!
Also on CHiPs
They just did that on the newest episode of "911 Lonestar". There was a basement infested with them and a bitten person lying on the floor surrounded by rattle snakes.
It was a CO2 extinguisher that froze the snake. It doesnt leave a residue. You used a dry chemical extinguisher, which doesnt freeze a snake and leaves a mess.
I think the paramedic used a fire extinguisher on an escaped cobra.
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