Snakes R Us.

I can't stand this....... but if I don't write it down and get it out of my mind, I will never be able to fall asleep tonight.

I went outside to lock up the coop at 7:45 tonight..... went into the coop, made sure all four chickens were in there, made sure Gatsby wasn't in there, and I locked the gate. Just as I turned around to step out of the yard in front of the coop, there it was in the grass, about ten inches away from my feet--- a very long copperhead snake. I couldn't run into the coop because it was locked (plus that wouldn't have been smart because there's not another way out on the other side).

The only thing I could do was jump over that damn snake... thankfully, the tail-end of him was near my feet, not the head-end of him. I ran back to the house.... couldn't even open my mouth to get a word (or a scream) out. Into the house, through the kitchen, into the front hallway, and I was able to yell "SNAKE!" when I reached the bottom of the stairs. My husband came running down the steps..... and I told him where the snake was, and how close I had been to it. I also told him that this one wasn't a small copperhead like the one yesterday..... this was a full-grown adult snake, damn it.

Once again... the shovel, the hoe, the hedge clippers...... my husband managed to kill the snake with the hoe and drag it from the grass to the concrete..... and then he smashed it again. And again. And again. And then he used the clippers to cut off its head.... just to make sure it was deader than dead. (I honestly don't know how I'm able to type all of this.)

My husband said the snake had turned around to face him..... I guess it knew it was cornered in that little part of the yard and it was ready to put up a fight. My husband slammed the hoe into the copperhead so many times that his back was stiff and hurting when he was done. And even after all of that, when the snake was on the concrete and my husband went into the garage for the clippers, that damn snake started to open its mouth and move its tail a bit. One last breath? Or bracing itself for one last try at a bite? We never did find out because my husband slammed it with the hoe again, and then finished it off with the hedge clippers.

Thankfully, my husband didn't get bit...... thankfully, I was able to jump over the tail-end of the snake..... thankfully, neither the chickens nor Gatsby got bit by the snake. Mickey and Sweet Pea were in the house-- and they may never again see the outside of this house. That blasted snake was over four feet long. This was not an itty-bitty copperhead going after teeny baby birds. This snake could have bitten and killed a cat or a chicken, or bitten one of us and we would have had to drive into town to the hospital's emergency room. (And I would have missed the last show of 'Dancing With the Stars.' Damn snakes.)

I have vowed to never walk around the yards without wearing my boots. Snakes can't bite through leather.... and those red-leather resale shop boots that I bought for walking around the property will now be on my feet every time I have to step into the grass, or into the coop, or go near the vegetable garden.

Peaceful country life. Whose freaking idea was this anyway?!