Thursday, September 10, 2009

Snake in the...Office?

We had some excitement at my office the other day. You'll remember we recently moved to a new location. An out of the way location. A location surrounded by vacant fields of amber waving grain (okay, it's just hay but...). This is nothing new for me as I'm always surrounded by green fields. I encounter critters on a fairly common basis and have simply learned to live with them. They stay in their space, I'll stay in mine and we'll both live happily ever after.

Someone forgot to tell the snake. I walked into the office recently, plopped my stuff on my desk, turned around and noticed one of the glue traps our pest control guy had left was moved. And it appeared to have a big caterpillar in it... OMG! That it wasn't a caterpillar. It was a snake, head stuck in glue, body wrapped tight around the little box and tail curled around the sides.

According to my boss (and I have to take his word for it because I don't recall) I crept back to his office and whispered, "Is that a snake in the front of the office?" as if the thing might hear me and give chase. He was completely flabbergasted by what I was saying and promptly followed me back to my area (Oh yes, it was in MY area) to have a look. Sure enough, snake.

Here might be a good place to pause and explain that thanks to a traumatic childhood incident involving my little sister and some Benadryl I have a humongous fear of snakes. But it was tiny and stuck so I called the pest control guys, informed our neighbors so they'd be aware of our little problem, and several of us stared at the thing for no less than an hour. It did not move. It was pronounced dead. Until everyone went back to their respective corners to attempt to work some more. I called Smart Pants - who had called me earlier to heckle the 'snake killer' - and was spending a few minutes coming down off my snake high.

Then the thing moved. And I screamed in her ear. And apparently (again taking their word for it) repeated over and over, "It's moving. It's moving!" in a high pitched, squealing voice. My boss came running with a pair of pliers, grabbed up the glue box and stuck it outside...while I held open the door.

Zilla stopped by, because he is my resident animal expert and when encountered by something I don't like I immediately call him. That is what wonderful husbands are for. They kill spiders and vamoose snakes. He agreed that to try and get it off of the glue trap would kill it. We decided to wait until the pest control guy arrived.

Forty-five minutes later, he shows up. Looks at the thing and then tells us that he'll take it over to the field and try to get it off of the glue...with frosting. My first thought was that was a waste of good frosting. Apparently, oil or Crisco would have worked but he didn't have any of those and frosting usually contains Crisco.

I have no idea whether the snake was released successfully or not...as long as he stays on his side of the office door from now on I really don't care.

The moral of this story? No matter what happens on the Playground, it will always come back to buttercream.

Any encounters with wildlife you'd like to share? Do you have a fear that you've been forced to face head on?

Instigator

P.S. As an update to this blog...yesterday we found another baby snake stuck in a glue trap AT MY FEET. I think I'm officially boycotting the office until the snakes are gone. I do not like the fact that they only seem to infiltrate my area. This is 2 snakes in 2 weeks. That is 2 too many!!

14 comments:

Playground Monitor said...

I'd be demanding combat pay and weekly visits with a therapist to combat the shock.

LOL at the buttercream. Wonder why that is? Did we all do something in a former life that revolved around lard and sugar?

Here's to a snake-free future.

Angel said...

Snakes I could probably handle, although I prefer to know they are there rather than have them show up unexpectedly. Spiders? Not so much. Just as SP what happened the night a huge spider decided to make itself known in the living room. I'm not very proud of myself for screaming and locking myself in the bathroom until she stepped on it... but there you go. :)

Angel

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I don't like anything to sneak up on me, but if I see it coming and it isn't chasing after me, I'm pretty ok. Not really afraid of spiders, snakes, rodents, etc. as long as they aren't poisonous.

I'm sorry I laughed so hard on the phone. It was just the most ridiculous thing to hear you, and all the men in your office, squealing when it moved. A little baby snake with its head stuck to a glue trap.

I'm guessing sandal season at your office has been officially drawn to a close.

Problem Child said...

::snicker::

Although I probably shouldn't laugh since I freak at the idea of the gerbils being loose...

Lynn Raye Harris said...

Snakes don't bother me. Now if they were spiders, eeewwww. I went through a trial by fire of giant wolf spiders in Germany. It's not something I care to think about, but it did rather cure me of my propensity to scream and freak out over your normal every day spider. Now, I can dispatch them on my own whereas before I had to call the hubby for even the tiniest arachnid. If a giant wolf spider showed up, though, I'd still call him.

I have a snake in one of my weepholes in the brick. :shrug: I figure he catches bugs. And he's more scared of me than I am of him. :)

I'd probably be a little freaked if he showed up inside though. Okay, a lot freaked (he's about 3 feet long).

A lady who breeds snakes told me about that glue trap when we were thinking of getting the snake out of the hole. But I thought she told me to use cooking oil to dissolve the glue. Can't remember because I decided the snake could stay at that point. :)

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

Everytime I read the title, I hear Samuel L Jackson in my head from Snakes on a Plane...

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these *&%^$%#(*& snakes on this *&%^$%#(*& plane!"

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

I typed plane on accident the first time I put the title up there. :-)

So far, our office is snake free today. 4 boxes of moth balls have been spread around the grounds and the office walls and we think we've plugged the hole they may have been coming in. I really hope so. I have a three strikes and you're out policy and I'd hate to make the office dead to me.

Instigator

Jane said...

I would boycott the office, too.

catslady said...

I'd rather see a snake than a spider lol. I have to assume these are nonpoisonous snakes - otherwise it's not so funny! I'm glad to hear the pest guy tried saving it. Now my husband would totally disagree with me. He too has a childhood trauma story lol.

Playground Monitor said...

Everytime I read the title, I hear Samuel L Jackson in my head from Snakes on a Plane...

You mean you actually watched that movie??? No freaking way would I watch that. ~double shudder~

Katherine Bone said...

Woe! What a couple of weeks. Thankfully, the things haven't crawled up your pants. LOL!!

I don't like snakes. They give me the creeps and they are unpredictable. I never seem to know when one is poisonous or not even though I'be been told how to tell the difference. Spiders I can stomp on, if needed, or grab up with a napkin and put outside. I try to set them free if I can. Sometimes, those water spiders are huge. Those I won't touch. And I absolutely hate tarantulas. My brother used to give me dead ones for my birthday, wrapped in a book with pretty paper. Think you're getting a nice gift? Think again...

word verif: shedism
(phobia of sheds where snakes and spiders, and bats and rats reside)

Katherine Bone said...

Apparently, I can't spell today. That should be, "I've" and wrapped in a box, not a book, which would be even harder with a tarantula. :(

word verif: dedne
(ded ne's a doornail)

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

Nope, not poisonous. They're baby king snakes from what we can tell. Really, they're not bad snakes to have around because they eat other pests and snakes. My problem is they've moved from their territory into mine.

Instigator

Pat L. said...

I too am petrified of snakes. No particular reason - they are just creepy slitherly things and I dont like them.