"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday 1 April 2017

Squeak to the rescue


My solar oven and Foothills DryAway are stored on our front patio near the front doors - for quick and easy access  ;)
Can you see Squeak enthralled with my solar oven?
Squeak was acting very strangely the other day.  She was crouching in front of my covered solar dryer - just staring at it.

Me - even though I try and "gather" the remaining loose bit of the cover under the solar oven, gaps sometimes remain.  So I'm used to frogs skulking in the bottom of the cover - so, even if I'd seen it, I probably would've not given it another thought.

But RMan is more alert than me.

He gently opened the patio door to see what she was staring at.

And saw a head.  A head too big to be a frog.
Something is peeping out from under the solar
oven cover...
He quickly closed the patio door again.  Very quickly.. And said "... "(I can't repeat it I'm afraid - my grandson reads this blog 😂) but I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.
...and when it moves it goes on, and on, and on...
I ran to the bedroom window that overlooks the patio.  And saw something moving in the cover.

And moving.

And moving.

There was no end to the movement...

This was no frog!

Locking Stellar inside (she would definitely have seen it as something for her amusement) and calling on the assistance of our neighbour, J, and some workers he had there, between RMan and the 5 of them they managed to get "it" out from under the cover.  My personal Foothills DryAway was destroyed in the attempt to prevent it from escaping.
RMan's DIY catcher
Then RMan came forward with his hastily manufactured catcher.

What did he catch? 
I.8 mtrs of Cape Cobra
A bloody 1.8 mtr long Cape Cobra.

On our front patio.

Right next to our front patio doors.

And we leave those doors open for at least 15 - 16 hours of every bloody day.

And have tea / coffee on our patio most every morning.

And sun downers there in the evening.

Sitting at a table less than 1.5 - 2.0 mtrs from it.

Well, we used to leave the doors open.  Not any more.

I understand why it was there - it's a very handy spot to nab a frog or two or three.
And just the day before I had been watering the plants on the patio - and even some seedlings which were in a tray on top of the solar oven.

Talk about luck...!

It was obviously not my time to go.

But, thanks to alert Squeak, who normally spends all day, every day sleeping on our bed.  Without her alerting us to the danger who knows what might have happened to either RMan, Stellar or me...

18 comments:

  1. GAH!!!
    I hate snakes. And people can tell me all they want how great they are for pest/rodent control. But EVERY part of my body SCREAMS when I see one.
    So glad you guys didn't get hurt.
    And again---GGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue - I must confess - I skulked behind the bedroom curtain until it was safe to come out... ;)

      Delete
  2. Loads of snakes due to the drought, good kitty for alerting you. There are lots of guys who will come and get it for you, but I'm not sure if there's one in your area. Maybe your RMan can become the local snake man, haha. Every town needs one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pqsa - Never had one "invade" our space quite so closely before - although I am aware that we have invaded their space...

      RMan the local snake catcher - I think not... :D

      Delete
  3. given me the colly wobbles. *shiver*

    ReplyDelete
  4. That gives me the willies and I'm thousands of miles way. I can think of some unpleasant ways to discover that thing. Glad it worked out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bill - Never nice to be reminded that we have invaded a wild creatures territory. As long as they don't invade our space, we'll leave them alone. IF they come to near for comfort then we have to do what we have to do...

      Delete
  5. Snakes are a problem here too but cheap black plastic bird netting dropped round the place might look unsightly but works wonders. Snakes try to crawl through it and get trapped and of course since they can't back up, the entanglement increases as they try to escape and being entangled stops them being able to rear back to strike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fran - Welcome, and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.

      Sounds like a plan - but how does one get the snake out of the netting...?

      Delete
    2. If you don't mind despatching the snake, beat it to death with a shovel and then cut the carcase out with secateurs. Or, alternatively, find one of those wildlife snake handlers who will probably be put the whole lot inot a freezer to calm the snake down then carefuly cut it out life and then release it. We favour the first approach for any snake close to the house.

      Delete
    3. Farn in Aus - We did - despatch the snake ;) T'was just too close for comfort for us too...

      Delete
  6. And we thought we had problems because we see a occasional rattlesnake here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marlin - I have no problem spotting snakes on the property - AWAY from the house. But, this close is too close for comfort... ;)

      Delete
  7. Dani - i think i would have fainted! no, change that to i definitely would have fainted! we don't have any poisonous snakes here on the island - thank The Lord. good job to both Squeak and Rman! and good job for you for not fainting!

    sending much love, as always! your friend,
    kymber

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. kymber - Trust me - I stayed well away until it was safe to venture out lol

      Glad you don't have poisonous snakes - just not mad about the amount of mosquito's you have there though... ;)

      Delete
    2. glad to hear that Dani! we get blackflies, mosquitoes, deer flies and horse flies....now i think about it maybe i would prefer poisonous snakes to all those awful flies - bahahahah! xox

      Delete
    3. I reckon kymber... :D

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.