TIME TO CALL PAPA - AND I'M GLAD THAT THEY KNOW IT!
Who you gonna call?
It is nice to have a certain reputation, and to have people know that they can count on you. My days can get pretty random and spontaneous when I'm around the homestead, and yesterday was no different. One moment I'm enjoying some Passionfruit and Ground Cherries and sharing some with one of my neighbors and the next moment I'm getting an "emergency" phone call.
As a #wild-man, the folks who live around me aren't always sure what to think about me. I can still remember walking into a nice, green pond fully clothed because I had seen a Snapping Turtle in there. You should have seen the neighbor looking at me when only my head was sticking out and I was waiting for it to resurface. In the end I did catch it, but they had never seen anything like it. These days, they do realize that I can come in handy though.
THE PHONE CALL
The phone call was short and to the point. One of the neighbors had found a Pygmy Rattlesnake next to their house. They asked if I wanted to come up and get it, and even sent a vehicle to come pick me up.
The most amazing part of this is that a few year back, that snake would have been dead on sight, no questions asked, without even caring what species it was. The vast majority of people that I've met in these parts either hate snakes, are afraid of snakes, or both. A lot of snakes end up dead because of it.
Of course certain species can pose a threat to humans, and I am in no way trying to diminish that fact. However, in the vast majority of situations, there is no reason to kill a snake... unless you are eating it, because eating snakes alive is just gross. Anyway, thankful to get the call and ride up, I quickly came to remove the serpent from their property.
GO GET HIM PAPA!
This is a short video. I must admit that I make it look easy. I did not realize how easy I made it look until I reviewed the footage. Rest assured, though this may look simple and easy it is still a dangerous situation. I don't think that this snake would kill me, but I still would not recommend that others attempt things like this.
FINDING QUITE A FEW LATELY
After just finding a black Pygmy Rattler when @vcelier and @naru-celier were in town, this puts me at three of that species for the year. I found three last year too, so I might be able to find more this year than last year. As always, it is nice to have help locating them and to have people call you when they see them.
EDUCATION VS. FEAR
If you have seen some of my animal or #wild-man posts, then you know that I enjoy not only interacting with all sorts of wild creatures, but educating and teaching people about them too. It seems that some people live in fear about some creatures until they actually understand them, or at least are able to differentiate between dangerous and safe species. Once they understand what they are dealing with, a lot of the fear leaves.
Also, I think that it is great to be able to be accepted for who I am. This is the type of stuff that I enjoy doing and it is nice when people can see the value in that, and even call on you to help them out. It added a little random excitement to my day and I was pleased to not only get the chance to check out the snake, but to bless my neighbors too!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-papa-on-a-"snake-call"
Until next time…
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How did you learn to interact safely with snakes like this? I think they are a cool animal but we don't see them much up in the northeast USA.
Mostly I have captured them all life long getting hands on experience. Making the switch from non-venomous to venomous was easy, you just don't let them bite you.
Also, I've given your comment a 100% upvote to encourage real commenting and interaction, which you do well.
Thanks @heymattsokol!
I used to live in south and northeast Texas, so I have a lot of experience with rattle snakes, but since I live in Michigan now, I don't see many anymore :( the cool thing? Most of the only rattle snakes that live in Michigan are pygmy rattlesnakes ;)
Nice catch @papa-pepper. Back when I was young I worked at a cub scout camp. We had a kid slide down a hill--he was goofing around but ended up right next to a big rattlesnake. It took a lot of teamwork and sweaty palms but we ended up being able to catch him with a forked stick while a couple other guys pulled the kid to safety. Fun after, a bit stressful during. You look calm as a summer morning doing it--a real pro.
What a story! Great job.
I'm still waiting to meet a big one.
Your post is very amazing and very interesting. You are a true adventurer and I think you are so great and amazing. Very rarely do we find people who can tame the snake. Because snakes include species of animals that are very dangerous. I like your post @papa-pepper
I am glad that you liked it. Thank you.
Your posts are great and very interesting. You are extraordinary. I am very afraid of snakes. Let alone holding a snake, that's the most terrible thing in my life. You are brave and to me you are very great. I'm sure you're a real adventurer. I like your post @papa-pepper.
Thank you very much for the support and encouragement! It means a lot to me.
Good to know that people like you are educating other about the letting the living live. Keep up the great work.
Thank you.
Ahh... I am scared of snakes but since @papa-pepper pointed out which i agree that once one understand what they are dealing with, a lot of the fear leaves. I think I will start checking out somsome wild creatures and get this fear off me! Thanks for sharing this...
I'm not afraid to say I'd be half a mile in the other direction!
We're looking at moving to America from the UK and one thing my wife and I agree on is that we'd rather deal with bears, wolves and snow over our heads than snakes, spiders and scorpions!
Have you ever been bitten?
No, I have not been bitten. What part of the US are you looking at?
It's difficult, we're looking for somewhere not too hot (we hate hot summers), got our heart set on that log cabin on the side of a mountain surrounded by trees sort of life but being realistic :)
Right now I think we're looking at Washington State/Maine and sort of a curve in between (Detroit, Wyoming, Iowa, etc) so avoiding the Dakotas (possibly too cold!)
The problem is America has a much more varied climate than the UK, we don't get extreme summers and winters thanks to the Gulf Stream current. I'm wanting to avoid anything over 75f at all costs but know that humidity changes make it more or less bearable.
You are a total boss at catching these animals! Actually you are a boss for life!
LOL! Thank you very much.
I think the fear of snakes is a good thing, with that being said I think It should be more of a respect fear and not the killing fear. They play a important role in the ecology system and keep a balance. Education is the key to helping people understand. Thanks for the post and good job.
@papa-pepper thanks for educating us about these amazing creature that is hated and feared by most people. I think that the hate comes from religious books too which portrays snakes as devil however some of them are lovely creatures (still I cant even hold or tango with one). I was wondering if you can join a wild team in search of Amazon Anaconda and African black mamba? they will be glad to have wild buddy like you in tehir team. Greetings to @papa-pepper tribe.
Feel free to give them my number!
send it over my buddy, that is a perfect match for you...