Snakes

SNAKES

Do you like snakes? When my GS Silas Brown started school, someone found a snake so the teacher made it an educational experience for the class. Very creative I would say. Silas is afraid of nothing. He has spent hours at our house turning over rocks and boards since he was two finding critters to play with. I was reminded of my first experience as a kid with snakes. We moved to Star Spencer Oklahoma. We lived in a small two-bedroom house on 5 acres. Behind us was the Koyen Campbell Mental Hospital. They owned about 100 acres and in the middle of the land was a huge lake. The residents and staff would go fishing there. The closest store from our house was about two miles away if we walked down the highway and around. Raiders Super Market was the name of this store. So after about a month or so, I figured out that I could cut through our land and go through the land behind us and around this lake to the store. Going this way, it would save me about a mile and no highway to navigate the traffic.

One day my sister and I were going to the store to get some cheese and bread. Mom had left us some money that Friday morning when she left for work. She would not be back until Saturday morning sometime. So to have something to eat we needed to go to the store. So, we walked across the backfield. Got to the lake and the end where we went around had a creek inlet where the water would flow into the lake. On the bank of the lake, I saw a snake all coiled up. I did not know what kind it was. I now know it was a (Cotton Mouth Water Moccasin). I told my sister to be really quiet and I would go get something to put him in and we would take him home to show Mom. So, there was a dump pit close by with a 5-gallon bucket in it. So I found a stick and killed the snake and put him in the bucket. He was pretty big. I was 8 years old and I held him up as high as I could and his body was still dragging on the ground. I noticed in the inlet there was another snake. So I went to the dump pit and got an old window screen and put it across the inlet so the snake would not get to the lake. There was a bunch of snakes there. I knew that you had to hit them in the head so we did. They were coming out of the water everywhere. We had stirred up a nest of snakes. So when the battle was over we had 12 Water Moccasins in our 5-gallon bucket. It was all the two of us could do to carry them home. We put the bucket in the garage and headed back to the store for the cheese and bread.

The next morning, we got up and went to the garage to show Mom our snakes and we only had 3 in the bucket. I was so disappointed that all we had was 3. Mom was really upset with us and wanted to know if we were sure we had 12 to start with. We said yes and she wanted to know where they went. I told her I did not know. There was a place to go under the house in the garage. Mom said we must have just stunned them and had not really killed them. We never did find the rest of the snakes. Never saw another one after that except at the lake. I could tell Mom was pretty upset about us catching the snakes. So we did not try to catch anymore.

Please don't tell me there is no such thing as a guardian angel. There is and I am alive today to prove it. When God has work for you to do and you are an innocent child God will get you to your destination. You may get some bumps and bruises along the way but He will get you there.

P.S. If you are older and you make bad choices, do dumb things and you know better, you are on your own. Mom said every time she went out of the house into the garage she always looked before she took a step. I wonder why? Lol

Phil Webb