[Magdalen] Taking care of our neighbors in the yard

[Jay Weigel]

It did. That's why I didn't want it sleeping on top of the freezer any
more. I don't want to harm it. I'd rather it eat the mice than have to deal
with the damn mousetraps!

On Mon, May 1, 2017 at 2:47 PM, Susan Hagen <susanvhagen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh Jay, that would have seriously unnerved me!
>
>
> On Mon, May 1, 2017 at 10:02 AM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> > We do, or did, share the basement with a black snake. I didn't mind it
> > until the day I nearly shut its head in the freezer! It had been sleeping
> > coiled up on top of the freezer under the old microwave stored there,
> and I
> > guess got curious when I opened the door. I didn't even notice it
> because I
> > was looking for something, but when I went to close the door I almost
> > decapitated the poor thing! That was when we put snake repellent on top
> of
> > the freezer. Otherwise we just left it alone.
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 30, 2017 at 8:38 PM, Susan Hagen <susanvhagen at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Our New Hampshire property had dry stone walls, remnants of the farm
> >> it had been.  The walls were the favorite habitat of little striped
> >> garter snakes.  My cats loved those snakes, thinking them the best
> >> kind of cat toy, self propelled strings.  I never saw them kill one,
> >> they would just play with them for a bit.  The snakes and I had an
> >> understanding that whoever saw the other first would quietly retreat
> >> from the encounter.
> >>
> >> When my ex-husband and I first moved to the Valley we shared a big old
> >> house with a friend.  They later told me that we all shared it with a
> >> large black snake.  They had the occasional scramble to usher him out
> >> without me seeing his since they knew I would have a very hard time
> >> staying there with his company.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sat, Apr 29, 2017 at 5:39 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> > I'm like Juli in having little patience with people who are
> automatically
> >> > horrified by snakes without considering what kind they are, and whose
> >> > immediate reaction is to kill them. While I'm not crazy about
> rattlers,
> >> > copperheads, and pythons, I still admire their unique beauty. I find
> the
> >> > black snakes on our property quite elegant in a quiet way, plus I
> >> > appreciate their rodent and insect eating proclivities. I've had
> numerous
> >> > encounters with them and always treat them with respect. I love the
> >> little
> >> > garter snakes in the garden, too...they're cute.
> >> >
> >> > Two snake stories. One concerns my friend Kirk, who had a farm in the
> >> > mountains of east Tennessee. His original house had a separate cook
> house
> >> > out back which was no longer in use for cooking and he used to store
> >> > assorted equipment such as his riding mower and his 4-wheel ATV. It
> was
> >> > also home to a 7-foot king snake. He told every new visitor about the
> >> snake
> >> > and said that it was to be treated with respect and greeted when one
> >> > entered the building, and that if you didn't like snakes or were
> afraid
> >> of
> >> > them, stay out of the building. I always did as instructed and was
> lucky
> >> > enough to to see it twice, once coiled around a rafter and once
> gliding
> >> > along the edge of the wall. Magnificent creature. Second story--when
> my
> >> > Betsy was 9, she and a bunch of her soccer team were kicking around
> the
> >> > field before practice and one of the boys found a small, recently
> >> deceased
> >> > garter snake. She was the only girl on the team who would pick it up,
> >> which
> >> > engendered much admiration from the boys. She says she wouldn't do it
> >> now,
> >> > though. ;->
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Sat, Apr 29, 2017 at 10:44 AM James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> >> > oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> I must content myself with the occasional turtle...
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> Good for you ! ! !
> >> >>
> >> >> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> >> >> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not
> >> preserved,
> >> >> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >> >>
> >> >> On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 1:15 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> > I went out on the lower porch about half an hour ago to take in the
> >> sun
> >> >> and
> >> >> > the breeze, and while I was there I noticed a black snake that
> seemed
> >> to
> >> >> be
> >> >> > caught in netting which S/O had  stapled around the corner post
> years
> >> ago
> >> >> > to assist the autumn clematis in its journey upward. Poor snake
> >> seemed to
> >> >> > be pretty thoroughly entangled, and knowing that these guys are not
> >> >> > venomous, I went and got S/O to have him look and see if there was
> >> >> anything
> >> >> > we could do. His first judgment was that the snake had expired, but
> >> when
> >> >> I
> >> >> > told him I'd seen it move, he got gloves, scissors, and a sawed-off
> >> broom
> >> >> > handle and proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes carefully
> snipping
> >> >> > netting and vine away from our scaly friend, which had got itself
> MOST
> >> >> > thoroughly entangled. I assisted by holding vines this way and
> that,
> >> and
> >> >> > the snake seemed to understand what we were doing and actually
> >> positioned
> >> >> > itself as much as it was able to so that S/O could reach netting
> that
> >> was
> >> >> > in between coils of its body. At last we managed to get it free,
> even
> >> >> > though we couldn't get all of the netting completely off it, and it
> >> >> crawled
> >> >> > off down the porch. I looked for it later and it was gone. S/O
> thinks
> >> it
> >> >> > may have gone down to the woodpile to rest and try to scratch the
> >> >> remaining
> >> >> > netting off. I'm just happy we found it and were able to free it.
> I am
> >> >> fond
> >> >> > of black snakes and I would hate for it to have died tangled in
> that
> >> >> > netting.
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among
> >> you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the
> >> land of Egypt.
> >> Leviticus 19:34
> >>
>
>
>
> --
> The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among
> you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the
> land of Egypt.
> Leviticus 19:34
>