What a fun life I lead
Jun. 18th, 2009 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
innerslytherinSo when we were almost home I got a text message from Mom with a picture:
What may not be immediately apparent in looking at the picture (as it wasn't to me at the time), the garter snake is caught in the netting that we have over the strawberry patch to keep the birds from eating them. And when I say caught, I mean he was caught but good. Two places he'd made it through, then expanded and had the netting dug into his scales. At one of the spots I think it had cut him. So the moment I got home, I had to pull out the pocket knife and use it to cut him free of the netting. Fortunately I'm pretty sure I managed to cut the netting without cutting him. He was very calm the whole time I was handling him, like he realized I was trying to help. The moment he realized he was free, he slithered away...directly into the strawberry patch where my snake-fearing aunt was supposed to pick tonight. I wasn't fast enough to stop him because I didn't want to hurt him worse.
When I got in the door, I discovered that my cat had jumped the screen that usually blocks his room, and then gotten trapped outside his room with food, water, and litter. So there was cat poop on the living room floor. As soon as Dad came into the house, Merlin started rubbing up against him, then bit him savagely and wouldn't let go. So Dad was bruised and bloody, and Merlin got himself a kick. Merlin was pretty unhappy but I gave him quite a talking to about his behavior. It took years, but I finally became the dominant of our little two-animal 'pack'...but Merlin obviously considers Dad to be a lesser pack member. So I spent some time cleaning up that mess, and then devising a gate that he can't jump.
I am exhausted, and it's not bedtime yet. :P
What may not be immediately apparent in looking at the picture (as it wasn't to me at the time), the garter snake is caught in the netting that we have over the strawberry patch to keep the birds from eating them. And when I say caught, I mean he was caught but good. Two places he'd made it through, then expanded and had the netting dug into his scales. At one of the spots I think it had cut him. So the moment I got home, I had to pull out the pocket knife and use it to cut him free of the netting. Fortunately I'm pretty sure I managed to cut the netting without cutting him. He was very calm the whole time I was handling him, like he realized I was trying to help. The moment he realized he was free, he slithered away...directly into the strawberry patch where my snake-fearing aunt was supposed to pick tonight. I wasn't fast enough to stop him because I didn't want to hurt him worse.
When I got in the door, I discovered that my cat had jumped the screen that usually blocks his room, and then gotten trapped outside his room with food, water, and litter. So there was cat poop on the living room floor. As soon as Dad came into the house, Merlin started rubbing up against him, then bit him savagely and wouldn't let go. So Dad was bruised and bloody, and Merlin got himself a kick. Merlin was pretty unhappy but I gave him quite a talking to about his behavior. It took years, but I finally became the dominant of our little two-animal 'pack'...but Merlin obviously considers Dad to be a lesser pack member. So I spent some time cleaning up that mess, and then devising a gate that he can't jump.
I am exhausted, and it's not bedtime yet. :P