Rattlesnake In My Cooler

I like to go to parties. I like to dance. I’m one of those dancers who think (after a couple of drinks) that I’m in an MTV video.

I’m not sure, because I’ve never been filmed dancing (thank God), that I embarrass myself (and those in close proximity) who know me well. As for the other people who see me dance, I’m just one of those drunken dancers that people poke each other in the side about. “Oh my God, look at her, what a freakshow.” Last Saturday was no exception. My kids stayed home with my jetlagged husband and I went to a party that my friend Kim and her sister-in-law Jerilyn threw.

There I was, dancing away to bad eighties music, thinking I was Janet Jackson or Madonna or MC Hammer and I began to vibrate. At first I thought it was just me, that I was dancing so well I was vibrating or maybe it was all the tequila I had consumed, then I realized it was my phone.

I snapped out of my post-disco daze and checked the number. It was my home phone. That can’t be good. I stepped away from the rhythmic din of “Brick House” and answered my phone.

This is what I heard: “Mom? Mom? Mommy?”

“Yes honey, it’s Mommy. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing Mommy, I just wanted to tell you that we just caught a rattlesnake and it’s in the red cooler.”

Silence from my end. Echoing in my ear—“She’s a brick house, she’s mighty, mighty, letting it all hang out.”

“Is Daddy there?”

“Yeah, he put the snake in the cooler for us.”

“Can it get out?”

“No”

“O.K., don’t touch it. Mommy will be home later.”

Notice the beer opener behind the snake's head

It has been a dry year. Not for me, but for the state. It seems that during dry years we see more snakes and this year is no exception.

When I was a little girl I lived with my family on the other side of the hill on which we currently reside. My earliest child hood memories consist of a lot of snakes. There was a drought when I was three years old also.

I remember my mom warned my brothers and I to be careful of rattlesnakes.

My next memory was standing at the top of our driveway, looking down at the road and stepping over a rattlesnake basking in the sun.

My brother was walking up behind me and I said to him as I pointed down at the rattlesnake sleeping between my feet, “What’s that?” My brother pulled me away from the snake, then he ran, got a shovel and killed the snake.

Who would have thought I would be getting up Sunday morning with sore feet and a throbbing headache to drive my boys up our mountain to release a rattlesnake?

Released

Stumble It!

Comments

[Genie]

Wow -- I've never seen a real live rattlesnake...except in a zoo. Believe it or not! This is amazing -- those photographs are crazy-cool! I'm glad everyone was safe...including the snake.

[Kalyn]

I'm getting a good mental image of you dancing, and I'm thinking you look pretty darn good! If I was you, I'd be happy you weren't home when the snake was found. There are quite a few rattlesnakes in Utah, but luckily I've never run into one.

[Eve]

I just turned all shades of white. I do not, you hear me, want to see a snake, but if I see one, you can call me gone!

[Katie]

Once again, nature has a way of reminding us that we're only visitors!

Cool story - I'm glad you let the snake go.

[Jacqueline]

Awesome photos -- what a beaut!

I was trying to remember the figure I heard about the number of rodents a rattlesnake will eat in a year, and while I didn't find the # online, I did read that they might eat as much as 25% of the rodent population in a given area.

Gophers beware!

[jgh]

This really made me laugh! And you have some gorgeous plants out there in Ca.

[chigiy]

Genie,
I probably wouldn't have seen one if I didn't live in this area.
Everyone was safe. The snake was really calm and docile. It seemed nice as far as rattlesnakes go.

Kalyn,
You're very sweet.
I'm a great dancer in my mind.

Eve,
You sound like me when I see a potato bug. Icky.

Katie,
My neighbors were flabbergasted that we didn't kill the snake.

Jacqueline,
I would rather have snakes than gophers and moles.

jgh,
Thank you.