Rick The Rattlesnake Hunter

Rick brought home this snake the other day.  See my last entry.  Anyway it reminded me of the Rattlesnake Roundup.

Once a year in Freer Texas they have an event called the Rattlesnake Roundup.  People from all over bring in live rattlesnakes and sell them.  There are a lot of rattlesnakes in Freer.

They hire in a famous singer and people sit around and look at snakes, sell and buy snake stuff and listen to the music.  There is also a show where grown men get into sleeping bags with live rattlesnakes.  I have a video of that.

Can anyone say REDNECK?

Okay now to the story.

One year on the way home from one of these Rick was driving home.

All of a sudden he pulled the car over to the side of the road.  I said."What are you stopping for?

Rick: There is a snake in the road.

Me" good let's leave him there

R:  No way I'm gonna catch him and bring him home!

M: YOu don't even have anything to put the snake in much less a snake catcher.

R:  I don't need no snake catcher.  And I will hold him until we get home.

Well we had just barely left Freer and still had close to two hours left of our car trip home.

R; You are going to drive and I will hold the snake on the passengers side of the car.

M:  I can't drive I don't have my contacts in!

Earlier in the day I had to take my contacts out because of all the wind and sand blowing around.

R:  I am going to go catch it and you can drive.

Rick then gets out of the car and goes and pulls the snake by the road by its tail and I don't know how he does this but grabbed the snake behind it's head and proceeds to walk towardsthe car.

I refuse to drive the car until he gets rid of the snake.  He says he is keeping it and to drive already because we are just going

to sit there all night until I do.

So here we go...me , blind as a bat, Eric in the back seat and Rick holding the snake right next to me in the passengers side.

Rick kept saying...turn on the lights I want to look at his fangs

M:  No way!

Then I hear Rick say a bad word and then Whew that was a close one he almost got away.

Apparently the snake had wrapped its tail onto the lever that pushes the seat forward and back and almost got away from him.

When we finally got home after numerous times of

turn on the light I want to see it's fangs

and almost running into a tree by the side of the road because I was so freaked out and couldn't see......

Well let's just put it this way...I will never go to another snake roundup with him again.

And the next time he wants to pick up a "friend" 

Well they can just walk home together!  Cuz I am not picking up any more hitch hikers.

And we kept that rattlesnake for quite awhile. 

We recently got rid of all the snakes.  We had two.

Thank goodness the one he brought home the other day was dead because I really do want to see if we can make it to our 25th anniversary.

And you thought your husbands were bad......

Barbara