Ranch Life

From city life to country life. Our joys, challenges and vexations. You are invited to jump in and share your experiences and offer advice with encouragement.

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Location: Texas, United States

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Friday, August 24, 2007

Another snake story at Burnt Biscuit Ranch.

Eggs disappearing out of the hen house as well as a second death by strangulation was getting old. But where was Stupid Snake hiding? She gave him that name because he killed two of her little chickens, tried eating them only to find they were too big thus regurgitating them.

Wouldn't a smart snake learn the first time?

A mid morning visit to the hen house this week, she noticed she had forgotten to clean out the center brooding box. On with the gloves, she reached in to do so only to wrap her gloved hand around fat, healthy Stupid Snake hiding under the straw. He must have been lying there each day with his mouth wide open just waiting for the eggs to drop in. Damn Stupid Snake.

She did what any new ranch woman would do when she found she had ahold of a 5' long snake. She screamed.

He came running. Although he grew up in South Texas and had seen many snakes, he didn't take too kindly to handling them. While she watched over this brute of a snake, he went off to gather snake catching supplies. He returned with a burlap bag and a metal detector. She held the burlap bag while he manuevered Stupid Snake into it with the long handle of the metal detector. Thinking this wasn't a good idea, Stupid Snake simply wrapped his body around the handle of the metal detector and bared his fangs at them. To her, at that moment, he looked like a 20' long Anaconda.

Finally getting him inside the burlap bag, he tied a knot and removed him from the hen house.
He was later to be relocated two miles down the road to the river.

Happy Day! No more snake in the hen house and the egg production would pick up immediately.
She went back to Autumn's House of Hens that evening with a basket to gather many eggs.
No eggs.
What does that mean?
Stupid Snake has friends.

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