Snakes!!!!

I'm not a fan of snakes....or spiders, but we have both here, and venomous kinds.  We didn't realize at first that we had rattlesnakes, our first encounter was with a bull snake that acted very rattler-ish, both in striking (a lot) and shaking his tail.  Once my hubby shot it through and through and through....it was coiled up, so one bullet hit it numerous times.  I got down and examined it (hey, I was a biology major...can't let a little necropsy pass me by!) and realized that it wasn't a rattler....boy did we feel dumb.  We had killed a snake that actually kills rattlers!  Oh yeah, we found out later that they mostly get killed because they act like rattlers....they might want to work on that.

Once I learned that we do indeed live in rattler territory, I went all out in snake-proofing my clothing.  I bought snake-proof boots for me and my hubby.  I even bought chaps.  I think I wore them one time and almost passed out from heat exhaustion.  I don't think my hubby even tried his boots on.

I wore mine until they fell apart. 

We don't have monster-sized snakes here, we get these small little guys.
 

I know they pack a punch.  Just ask our dog, Stella, who was bitten after, I'm sure, much provocation on her part, right on her nose.  My hubby & I had just gotten home from a quick Vegas trip to celebrate our anniversary when Stella came up to me with a swollen snout.  $800 & 3 days later, I brought her home, and her face was kind of floppy from the swelling subsiding.  It would have been kinda funny....if I hadn't spent so much money (ok, most were my Vegas winnings, so it didn't hurt too much).  The worst part of that whole ordeal was the realization that my Mom had been babysitting the munchkins while we were gone and they had been playing outside everyday, ALL DAY!

We keep a tally on our chalkboard of our yearly snake kills.  I definitely see a trend and it ain't looking good for this year.