It was a week for Snakes!

While describing (and perhaps embellishing) our snake catching escapades to my parents and my grandma, They filled us in on the snake hunts going on in their neck of the woods!

Junne, my parent's neighbor down the road, lives in an old house.  She was having a new floor furnace installed (Wow! They still make those things?) and the guy asked her if she knew there was a snake in her basement.  Well yes, as a matter of fact, she did know that but really hadn't worried about it because a bull snake in the basement means fewer mice upstairs!  Country philosophy, ya know!  And she didn't go down there much anyway--just to get more canning jars or cart down a box of old dishes.  But she decided she might as well call her son to come get the snake out of there.  When Clifford arrived, she informed him that the last she knew it was in a box of jars and he could just close the flaps and carry it upstairs and outside.  Easy!

So down into the cellar they went.  His mom directed him to the appropriate box where he proceeded to close the flaps. Then the contents of the box gave a distinctive rattle.

Cliff and his mom weren't long in getting out of that basement, I'll bet. They decided to call the local snake catcher who works at the Co-Op.  He assured them he'd be there in thirty minutes!  Fast service, I'll say! He arrived post-haste and proceeded to catch the snake and remove it from the snug basement home.

I think Junne has decided she really doesn't need anything down in her basement now.  She's a little afraid the snake might have friends. And they can just have the storage portion of the house!