In my daily tour of the garden I was caught by surprise when, on the edge of the strawberry bed, I saw a long snake. I could not see the tail, and the head was buried in the netting, so I wasn't sure what type it was but suspected a gopher snake. He was not moving.
It turns out he had gotten caught in the netting that I use to protect the berries from raccoons. He had the netting wrapped tightly around his jaws, head, and body.
Thinking he was dead, I went inside to get help. I got distracted, so an hour later when I brought my husband out to see, the snake had moved! The good news was, he was still alive. The bad news was, now we needed to save him. First, I got a stick and moved him enough to see his tail and confirm he was a gopher and not a rattler.
Saving him meant handling a snake, which I've never done in my life. Luckily, hubby turned out to be braver than I, and with very careful snips of the scissors, was able to cut the netting off. The snake started hissing, so as we untangled him more and more I grabbed a long pair of tongs and held his head.
After an agonizing half hour of cutting, we freed him. Rather than take him out in the field, since I wanted him to do his job and hunt down the gopher that has been eating my squash, I let him be. He slithered over to the shade and rested. I checked occasionally, and once the sun came around to his resting spot, he took off. Here's what I learned from this experience:
Watch carefully when I'm on my hands and knees or stepping through plants.
Wear close-toed shoes in the garden. While these guys won't generally strike, if I step near him he might.
Find a different gauge netting, either bigger or smaller, so this doesn't happen again. I was able to find him in time but this could have been a tragic ending.
Go get 'em Snakey! Or maybe we'll call him Waldo since now in the garden I'll be always asking "Where's Waldo???"
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