A Tarantula....In My Kitchen?

No, not a pet, or a homeschool science project.  I just looked down and there was a tarantula in my kitchen!  And no I did not take time to snap a photo!  Just when I thought I had seen everything out here in the country and conquered so many fears this happens!  How will I sleep at night now?  So let's see - we have coyotes, skunks, snakes - venomous and non, opossum, huge wolf spiders, fleas, ticks, chiggers, black flies, fruit gnats, other gnats, hordes of grasshoppers, fire ants, mice, dirt daubers, wasps, praying mantis', stink bugs, wild hogs, hawks, black bears, vultures, giant mosquitoes, brown recluse spiders, snapping turtles, armadillos that carry leprosy, black widow spiders, and so many other creepy and down right dangerous creatures to "watch out" for I can't name them all, nor do I even know of them all! Or want to!
So Ricky happened to be home and I, of course, let him have the honor of dealing with the tarantula.  Then he tells me he saw a huge one out in the garden one day all covered in white - and thought "what an odd looking white tarantula".  Then he poked it with a stick and millions of the tiny white "babies" scurried off of the "mother tarantula"!   OooUuuuuggghh.....  And you know what they say - if you see one there are MaNy that you don't see.   Think we'll be doing "take-out" meals for the next, say..forever - oh, but wait, we're out in the boonies and there is no where to get "take-out"!  Gotta love the country life.(?)

Must Sharpen Those Tools!

Today while on the phone with my sister I heard the dogs causing a commotion.  This happens often but I have learned to recognize when they have something they deem threatening cornered.  So I head outside in my sandals having been sitting at the computer doing routine paperwork.  Hoping it wasn't another skunk incident about to unfold I find them out from the camphouse on the edge of our thankfully, newly mowed property surrounding a SNAKE!  Yes, it was coiled up with its head striking at them but they were not going to let up.  They had once again did there job in finding trouble!  I ran into the main house and yelled at Little Ricky to come as I put some more sensible shoes on and at the same time talking to my sister telling her what was happening.  I hung up on her and ran out to the shed to grab a hoe.  Little Ricky came out with the .22 rifle just in case, but we knew we couldn't fire because of the dogs.  I handed him the hoe and off we go.  I was so proud of him - he began whacking away at the head of the snake as Marmaduke and McGillicuddy backed up a little to give him room, although they continued their ferocious barking.  Whack, whack, whack, the hoe wasn't penetrating!  And the snake was moving, and the dogs were wildly barking and guarding.  And our hearts were pumping!  Whack, whack, whack, the snake was stunned, but no breakthrough.  Whack, whack, whack, still no breakthrough, but it seemed to be under control.  Please know that I am terrified of snakes!  And spiders, but that's for a later post.  I run back to the shed and grab a shrub shear.  I hold the hoe and remain at the ready and Little Ricky starts trying to cut off the head with the shears as the snake was wiggling and moving.  By the way, the snake appears to be about 5 feet long!  Black with a white underbelly.  The shears were dull!  I run back to the shed and find a tree limb lopper.  I hand Little Ricky the tree lopper and hold the hoe at the ready as the dogs fight to get in there and get their kill and guard us at the same time.  I try to hold the dogs back so Little Ricky can lop off the head.  After a few lops, Success!  Then we have to fight the dogs for the snake - not knowing what kind it is we don't want them to take off with it but they really do want to play with it.  What a commotion!  They would grab it and flip and flop it and we would yell NO! and back them off and this went on for what seemed to be hours, although just a few minutes, I'm sure.  Our hearts are racing and we call my brother for advice, but he's not available.  My sister in law says we need to hang it in a tree.  So we hang the snake in a tree using the hoe.  We then get the dogs under control and then lay the snake out on the ground to get a good look and hopefully determine the type of snake - and snap a photo.  We call Ricky, but to no avail.  We call Papa who says the dogs won't eat the snake and even if it were venomous it has to bite them to harm them and he says just throw it over the fence and leave it.  So Little Ricky does so.  You  must realize this is a first for Little Ricky - killing a snake!  And a first for me as an assistant to killing a snake!  Whew!  Glad it's over, but I must say I was proud of my dogs, and very proud of my 10 yr old son!  He had no fear - just started taking care of business.  Lesson learned - sharpen those tools!