Hick got a call Sunday evening from one of his residents. This happens frequently, and you never know that you're going to get. This one was NOT something you would like to pick from a box of chocolates.
"This old lady says she has a snake in her closet!"
"Why are you just sitting there? Aren't you supposed to go get it? Or tell her who to call?"
"Nah, her grandson is there, and he killed it."
"Well, that's good, but it seems like it could be a problem!"
"Yeah, some of the other ladies told her that an old man on the second floor saw two snakes."
"Where are they coming from? I don't think snakes can crawl up the walls. Maybe they could go up pipes. I don't know about stairs."
"Turns out he saw them on the first floor, in the hall right inside the door. So that's how they're getting in. I guess because it's been so hot, they're trying to get cool inside."
"Snakes are cold-blooded. They LIKE to be hot. That's why they lay on rocks and blacktop roads. Remember, it's only been in the 70s for a couple days, and down around the 50s at night. They're probably wanting to get WARM. What kind of snakes?"
"They said copperheads, but I don't know, because I haven't seen them."
"Supposedly copperheads mate for life. So if there's one, there's probably two."
"They said it was baby snakes."
"That's worse! You can't see them! And they have the most potent venom. I saw a bunch on the blacktop trail when I used to walk at the state park. They came right at me, striking at my foot. Good thing they were babies, and couldn't get their mouth open enough to bite my shoe sole."
"I guess I'll call our exterminator. I don't know how else to handle it. Every closet has a drain in it, because that's where the water heater is. I hope they're not going up the drains, but that lady is on the ground floor."
"Yeah, an exterminator should know who would handle it. You have to do SOMETHING!"
It's not something you would expect to happen in town. My grandma lived in the country, and found a giant black snake in her baseboard heater. My uncles pried it out and took it outside. Kind of creepy, but it wasn't a copperhead! We don't kill black snakes, because they're good for eating other pests.
Nobody wants a surprise snake in the closet. Of any kind!
I don't like snakes. Any snakes!
ReplyDeleteI don't mind seeing them, as long as they're not in the house!
DeleteMy first thought was if her son found it and killed it why is she calling Hick? But then I read further and agree an exterminator must be called.
ReplyDeleteI still think it would have been right to tell Hick, because that's not normal! But it could have waited until the next day, during normal business hours, like telling him at lunch at the Senior Center.
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