Snake Stories

I grew up in a home with pet snakes, along with a lot of other crazy stuff. The snakes though were the one thing that made people think twice about coming to visit. 

My brother had one bull snake for a couple of summers; we called her Slinky. She was about 6 feet long and had a very distinctive scar on her head that made it easy to recognize her. Every spring he would catch her.  We would keep her all summer feeding her mice we caught in the pig barns in live traps. Then in the fall we would release her so she could hibernate through the winter One year he caught a second one; so now we had Slinky and Stretch. They cohabitated well. He decided to see if they would hibernate in the winter even if they were in a warm house. We set up mice cages and got some pet mice to feed them both. This is where the snake stories start. 

The first drama occurred because Slinky escaped her enclosure and appeared in Roy’s bed one morning. Bob, the non-snake-loving brother declared that either the snake moved out or he was going to. Slinky got moved to the downstairs living room from the bedroom upstairs. When Stretch came to join Slinky, the enclosure grew so there would be room. It was tucked into a corner right beside the living room couch. 

That made it convenient. Whenever traveling salesmen or company that we really weren’t excited about came to the house, we would indicate the end of the couch as their place to sit. When Slinky would hear strange voices, she would soon come out of her hideaway in the back of the enclosure to investigate. Soon her head could be seen rising in the corner of the enclosure. Her tongue would be flicking like mad, her way of trying to scent the person to see if she knew them. 

Not surprisingly as soon as she appeared most people were suddenly ready to leave. Several jumped up and fled without even saying good-bye. After they were gone the snakes got a small mouse as a snack for a job well done. 

This is shaping up to be a bad year for snakes, the drought makes them come in closer to the farms, so we are much more likely to see rattlesnakes in places where they aren’t as common. I totally respect snakes; I am not a fan of killing them just because they are out in the fields or even near my house doing snake things. I am not afraid of them, but I can tell you that if one slithers across my path, I will certainly jump, my feet will likely pedal in the air, and I will scream like a little girl. 

I have many more snake stories, but they will have to wait for a future column. 

Rhubarb Lemonade Concentrate

9 cups diced rhubarb

3 cups water

6 cups rhubarb juice (from above) 

2 cups lemon juice, fresh or bottled

6 cups sugar

To make the rhubarb juice combine diced rhubarb and water in a large pot, bring to a boil and simmer until the stalks are completely soft and falling apart. Strain through a jelly bag or flour sack dishtowel and let it drain. Measure out the rhubarb juice needed for concentrate, combine with the lemon juice and sugar. Heat to a simmer, do not let it boil. Put into hot pint jars. Process pints in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. To reconstitute combine each pint of concentrate with 3 pints of water. The sugar can be adjusted to preference, I use less, but it depends on how tart the rhubarb is.