Two Country Girls and a Snake

On July 3, 2018 by Michelle Love

I have to preface this story with something that happened when I was around 11 years old. My family lived down a long gravel driveway in Mint Hill, NC that ran parallel to McAlpine Creek. Between the driveway and the creek was about a half acre of land, with a huge oak tree, and a homemade swing hanging from one of it’s branches. The swing was made from a short tree branch, with a yellow nylon rope that ran through a hole and was knotted on the bottom. My cousins lived next door, and we would spend hours down there, swinging, and playing in the creek. To me now, we were fearless little girls. There were snakes – poisonous ones – all around that creek, and we just played without worry. One day a friend of mine was over, and we were playing down at the creek. My cousin was with us, and we all decided it would be fun to wade in the creek with our flip-flops on. We waded down a little further than usual, and it became deeper. We heard some rustling on the bank, which stretched up about 10 feet from the water, and saw a large water moccasin making it’s way down to the water. We all screamed, and started trying to run back to the bank. You cannot run in deep water with flip-flops on. My cousin fell down in the water, and looked back to see the snake’s head zig zagging in the water toward her. My dad heard our screams from the house and came running. We all got out just in time, but I think it’s safe to say we were pretty traumatized. That was probably the last time I ever got into that creek, and it solidified my dislike of snakes.

While weedeating yesterday, I saw a black snake in the shrubbery in front of our house. I stood there and watched for a few minutes, and got Carly, so she could see him too. We took a photo, and left him alone and went about our business. I came back around to the garage later, and saw the end of his tail peeking out from the inside corner. 😳😳😳 Calmly, I called Carly over to help me make sure he heads outside while I poke underneath the things in the corner. After he finally turned around, I realize he’s stuck in the sticky trap that the exterminator puts in the garage. Being the good country girl that I am, I couldn’t let him stay that way, and I wasn’t going to kill him. You don’t kill black snakes. I got the rake and had Carly make sure his head stays put while I peel his body off the trap. 😱😱😱 The whole time we are both screaming. 🤪