Bedtime is always a tad hectic in our household. “Mom, I am NOT tired, everybody else I know gets to stay up much later” and then little sis chimes in, “Yeah, I agree with what Eli says”. Exhausted audible sigh as I respond, trying to dig deep for that much needed patience that is so elusive at days end “well, guys, here is the deal, in this house, bedtime is 8:00, and I am not really too concerned about what other kids do or don’t do”. “Now, lets brush teeth, and get jammies on so we can have snuggle time, I will be back in five minutes, so get cookin’ “.
Walking into my bedroom to enlist “dads” help, I notice Dewey, frozen, almost as if in mid stride, staring at something. My eyes follow the direction of his body……….
“What the (expletive that begins with F) is THAT in our shower? Honey, you BETTER be playing a joke on me!” I loudly exclaim.
My husband walks over, his eyes now following in the same direction where Dewey AND I are intently focused, and, ever so calmly replies “yeah, I’m not playin’ a joke on you, that’s a real snake.”
“You go occupy the kids while I take care of the snake” he says. Well, that sounded like a fair trade to me! He comes back up the stairs less then ten minutes later, empty handed. Whew! Crisis resolved, my husband, the snake handler.
Dewey on the other hand, did not seem so relieved. For the next hour, he sat vigil on the bed, staring intently at every movement he saw OR thought he saw.
I gave him lots kisses and cuddles, but he was shaking for the longest time, and never, ever, in all my years of being a cat owner, have I ever seen a cat TUCK his tail between his legs. Dewey wants to be brave, wants to be the house protector, but maybe he will just have to settle for cat sleuth.
Disclaimer: This picture is a re-enactment with a fake snake from the toy box. No snakes were harmed in this story, my husband carried the snake out by its neck and released it into the back yard.
So it could come back, you a-shole!!!??? Has brother mouse (aka Bernie) returned after you caught him with a box and put him outdoors and released him back into the wild?
Is Dewy back on the roof?
No, Dewey is not on the roof smart butt!
Bernie has not returned, Dewey has had to play with fake cat toys instead of a real mouse. You know Moon, we have a catch and release program here!
It does make sense though, black snake to kill the mice! If I could just ensure they wouldn’t get into my shower or ANYWHERE upstairs, I would not mind if they kept their visit to the basement to mouse hunt.
Nice story!
Why kill somthing that couldn’t kill YOU, even if it wanted to?
Sorry about Dewey’s trauma, though.
he is back to normal now Punchak, even “hunting” in the back laundry room, testing fate!
Your husband caught and released the snake? Why, so he can crawl back through the same hole and into your house again? Kill the MFer!
Bwaaahahahahahahaha
My sentiments also, Kill!
Black snakes are mostly harmless. Geez, you guys are tough! Look, the snake takes care of the mice that Dewey, the great hunter, only plays with, gets bored, and then lets go again.
EEWWW!!
Mmmm…tastes like chicken…..
Sorry, was channeling my inner Cajun…
Black snakes eat mice and rats. He did the right thing.
the cat or the husband did the right thing Cargo? 🙂
@Elena
Major props to (1) you, (2) your husband, and (3) your cat. Had it been me, I would have (1) passed out or soiled myself (most likely both), (2) taken a hoe to the venomous creature rather than releasing it on its own recognizance, and (3) jumped to a chandelier where I’d still be sitting. I would also have a “for sale” sign in the yard because if it got it once it can get in again.
I would not kill a blacksnake in my yard. Copperhead yes. Blacksnake no. Now, if something comes in my house, it has crossed the threshold and it is mine. I will kill it if it doesn’t belong. I don’t give a rat’s ass what it eats.
Moe has the right idea as does Kill the MFer.
Haven’t had any snakes yet. My parents have a skink with a blue stripe on it, and we all have lots o’ toads. I guess as long as it stays outside and eats nasties, it can live. But I’m with you, Moon…if it comes in the house and it has nothing to put toward the month’s mortgage payment, it is summarily executed.
YIKES and KILL The MFer!!! 🙂 My skin is crawling….ewww but good Kitty!! 🙂
I’m with Morris. After the kids called 911 and they restarted my heart, we’d be moving out. The stink bugs are enough to make me want to move to the Arctic. That and never having to contend with bathing suit season again……..
Let me say. I spent way too much time analyzing your picture. I read enough of the post to realize it was a real snake then I went back to analyzing the snake. I was fairly concerned because I hadn’t seen a striped one like that around here before. Then I finished reading to find out you had staged this picture!
I am relieved that it was just a black snake but I would not have released it. My rule – we leave bugs. rodents, snakes alone if they’re in their environment and kill them if they cross into ours.
You had me going all the way to the end thinking that was a real snake in the picture. I can be brave about a lot of things, but not snakes. Ugh, what if that snake had made its way into somebody’s bed or something? Ewwwww.
The shower is close enough for me!!!
Elena said that is exactly where the snake was when she first saw it. Pretty neat that Dewey was willing to reenact the event.
He will probably go back to the roof after all this.
@moe,
Snakes don’t freak me out too much, well at least black snakes, but a cicada, NOW you will see me run screaming!
@Alanna! Well, in the heat of the moment, pictures weren’t really a possibility, but I needed some visual so I restaged it best I could. the snake is a rubber one from Luray Rescue Zoo, I think it’s a mini cobra 🙂
Emma,
I will tell you,Dewey is STILL on look out. He investigates under the bed, shower, laundry room even tonight. My hubby lifted up the washing machine because Dewey was in the midst of a “stake out” (the laundry room in the back part of our room)last night. No snakes, but lots of dust bunnies! I am sure there are other creatures lurking, but I just try not to think about it!
@Moon-howler
I agree that any cat willing to perform a reenactment is admirable. Did Dewey wear the kitty Blue or the kitty Gray at the Manassas Battlefield festivities this summer?
Yankee all the way NTK!
Message for Dewey: Contain your natural curiosity, buddy. Those Virginia Black Rat Snakes can grow up to eight feet long, and they, being constrictors, can easily nosh on small mammals. They also bite if disturbed. And they have been known to shack up with some of their venemous pals during the winter months. You might even think about requesting a transfer. A high rise condo in Alexandria wouldn’t be a bad idea. Nice view. No snakes. Less pressure to perform in the mouse department. Or, you could just move all your stuff up to the roof. You could call it “Occupy Elena” and demand a change in the catch and release policy — as in, if you’re going to release those critters, how about taking them to the Rural Crescent so I can get some peace around here.
Pretty kitty.
How can a Haymarket cat be a yankee? That doesn’t even make sense.
both my parents are from Massachusttes and being a northern va gal, I am not quite the southern bell!
Wolverine! That was very clever! LOVE the “occupy Elena” and ask for a change of venue 😉
thank you marinm 🙂
Oh, and Wolverine, we ARE in the Rural Crescent!
I can’t help wondering how high Dewey would have jumped had that fake snake wiggled a bit…
We catch and release into the brush pile any snake too close to the doors or mice in the house. Sometimes the cats find the mice first in which case we release their carcasses onto the spare gravel parking space for the opossums or crows to find and munch.
LOL@censored!
Snake makes a fine meal…just saying is all.
Snakes taste good, bacon tastes good, pork chops taste good, Dewey tastes good.
No Catricide allowed!
We used to have a big cat long ago in Africa who was a great “ratter.” We knew when she had had a successful night of hunting. For some cotton picking reason, she always left the tail at our front door. Just the tail. Nothing else. Sort of like a bounty hunter, I guess.
@Wolverine
OH EWWWWWWWWW
I hate cat gifts. Mrs. Wolverine is a saint.
The picture reminds me of the time I was on the road somewhere and my wife calls me up hysterical because there was a lizard in the shower. I mean, she was really freaked out. So, first thing I did when I got back was to find a rubber lizard and put it in the shower.
That stunt landed me in the guest bedroom for almost a week.
@Cato, I pulled that stunt with a very life-like toy snake when I was a teenager. I left it on the counter near the stove. It wasn’t very large. I ended up grounded for 2 weeks. It seems that my skeerdee cat mother called my father home from work to kill it. I left off the part that I had gone off on a date and not taken my snake.
My nose was really out of joint over being punished over a rubber snake.
Cato,
Probaby a very celibate week as well!
Steve,
Ewwwwww!
Does it taste like chicken 😉
Mom,
Dewey is certainly not a delicacy! Now, Tator Tot, our blind kitty who must be suffering from schizophrenia, one too many ankle attacks and he might end up on the BBQ!
BEER ROASTED CAT
1 cat cut into roast
1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cube of beef bouillon
1 clove of garlic
1 Fine Irish Stout, a lot like a popular dark Irish Beer
@Elena
Not really. Only rattlesnake tastes like chicken. Most of your common non-poisonous snakes have sort of a light fishy flavor, sort of like eel. Water Moccasins taste really fishy. Have never eaten a python so I don’t know what they taste like, but as far as bush-meat goes, snake is indeed a fine meal.
Now cat, on the otherhand, is a delicacy in China and Hong Kong. Was once treated to a dish when in HK, and later found out it was roast cat with string beans. Tasted sorta strange. Wouldn’t eat it again. I’ll stick with the pressed duck.
Yes, I’ve seen how cats and dogs are treated in China, skinned and boiled alive is not my idea of fine meal!