“Did he show up last night?” Jen asked, a haunted look and white-knuckled grip on her coffee cup.
“I’m not sure,” Maxi sighed, “that one slips in and out of the night like a mystery.”
Jen closed her eyes and took a sip, “Guess it’s time to make that call.”
“Lee is right about that rascal,” Maxi frowned. “He shook his head when I showed him the hole by the house.
“Yep, it’s an armadillo … I’m tellin’ ya.”
“I thought I could get rid of him with this stuff,” Maxi wailed, holding up a white container. “I mean, it’s really nasty. Yet, all I’m doing is runnin’ him from one part of the yard to the other. He’s tearing up the whole acre.
“Besides, Racer is really upset. He’s been living in the front island since he was a baby. It’s a natural habitat for a snake. Not only that, the stuff I spray around is very potent. It might make him sick.”
http://paulgoodman67.hubpages.com/hub/Facts-about-Southern-Black-Racer-Snakes
Maxi’s hands flew to her face, “Oh my gosh, Runner and Baby Girl too.” The turtles live in the front yard and they are still babies.
“Runner has grown some,” Maxi mumbled, “but still … excuse me Lee, I gotta go.”
She raced inside to the phone. Two days later a trapper had set up cages where the critter shows the most activity. In other words, where the yard gets tore up the most.
The next morning Jen and Maxi sneak out at first light to take a look-see.
They creep around the corner of the house real quiet like and there he is … a beady-eyed opossum staring them right in the eye. Let me tell ya these critters are mean when they’re cornered.
The next day there is an opossum in one cage and a squirrel in another. The girls are real upset about the squirrel.
A couple of days later they find a raccoon. Look at those eyes?
Still, he ain’t no armadillo…
May Your Glass Always Be Half Full
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P.S. I have been around snakes all my life; used to have a seven-foot Indigo. I have a healthy fear of snakes but yard snakes don’t bother me much.
I have encountered Racer many times but he has never struck out at me. Still, I have to be careful when I clean the front island. Should I startle him, Racer may bite me.
He is about 4ft now and his bite would be very painful.
