Fight or flight, which one would you chose? I'm quite the chicken and always run away screaming from a scary situation.
My husband Willie had to go talk to a man about a construction job, so I volunteered to change the irrigation water. You always have to watch out for rattle snakes while doing this job, so on one part of the pipe I walked on the wet side where the water was coming out instead of risking the tall grass on the dry side where the snakes tend to hide. Whew, that part was done, so I could go close the lower pipes where the hay had been mown. With the water running, it's hard to hear the tell tail rattle of the snake.
Reaching down with the shovel to close a gate I herd a faint buzz and saw a rattler coil up and strike at me. I jumped back screaming at the top of my lungs.
I have seen the men chop up these snakes with shovels and know that is what I should have done, but every time I got close enough to try that method of attack it would raise up it's venomous head ready to strike. I was just to chicken and couldn't do it.
It's kind of like the classic tale "The Red Badge of Courage." If you don't kill it this time, it could kill you next time.
I've seen what a snake bite can do and it is pretty awfull.
5 comments:
I think I would have fainted ... at least I would have been out cold when he bit me!
I would of ran screaming too. I like snakes but a rattler, NO WAY!!
First off, I would have gotten out of the way!!!
Then it just depended on how long the handle was on what I was trying to kill it with.
Long, stay and fight.
Short, run screaming!!!
Good golly! Glad you didn't get bit! The screaming and running would have been me, though I recall the time that Adrienne and I hacked a water snake to death in my front yard in Powell because we thought it was a baby rattle snake. I had a rake and Adrienne had a shovel. Couple of crazy women!
Oh man-that would have been hard to do-I would have been afraid if I got close enough to chop it-it would have bitten me. Yikes!
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