Monday, June 16, 2014

Adventures in Dog Showing

BTW, Saturday was an adventure, woke up early to feed dogs, shower, and get ready to meet Catherine Gamble for the drive up to Troy OH dog show.  Sleepily stumbled into the bathroom warding off happy puppy faces, only they weren't trying to lick me like normal.  It finally dawned on me that they were concerned and trying to push me off the toilet!  Or trying to push me out of the way so they could get next to the toilet, I realized.  Looking down and to my right I came eye to eye with a large dark brown snake with a mottled diamond pattern barely visible on its back.

My tired brain said "Cotton mouth!" and woke me the F up!  Yep, no caffeine necessary!

(This is obviously not my bathroom, but this is very close to what I was looking at in the semi-darkness)

Thankfully the snake seemed just as surprised and unbelieving as I was!  It had looped itself covetously around a toilet paper roll and was looking up at me as if to say it had no idea this was my bathroom and not a cozy inviting snake den.  A closer examination of the snake showed me round pupils and I relaxed.  Just a rat snake.  A four foot long rat snake, but still...The only movement was a flicking of a black tongue and I was very quick to finish my business and shoo the dogs out, shut the door and go wake my husband to help me round up the snake.  I think he's been watching too much Turtleman...

Grabbing a reach stick with a suckered grabber at the end, he follows me back to the bathroom.  I get an old pillow case, and he attempts to pick up the snake with a device never meant to pick up more than 16 ounces...  The snake is starting to wake up now, even though it is very cold and lethargic.  It makes a break for the door.  I grab another stick and help fend it away from freedom.  Jim finally gets a claw up under the snake as it is slithering out and lifts it enough for me to bag it.

"Tornader it!" He says, and I couldn't help but bust out laughing.

After I finished up getting ready and loading up, I took the snake down by the bridge and let it go.  Hopefully it will consume many mice and tell its grand-hatchlings about its close encounter and alien abduction.