No, folks, they don’t. If you are under the mistaken – and let me repeat that again – MISTAKEN – assumption that mothballs deter snakes, I am here to tell you that they do not! Repeat – DO NOT!

        After lifting up one of the dog’s blankets and finding a coiled up snake, I was told by many to scatter mothballs around my Garden House and the dogs kennel to deter snakes. So, out I ran as fast as I could to purchase a box of mothballs. As soon as I got home, I scattered a number of them – ok, a gazillion – of the mothballs under and around my Garden House, which also serves as the dog kennel. For good measure (loads of good measure), I scattered more than my fair share inside of my Garden House as well. I will just mention here, that at this point, it is not a good thing to walk inside of my Garden House.

        Well, all was fine and dandy for about three weeks and then today Hubby found a snake in the kennel! This is what transpired.

        I was listening for the dogs to bark to let me know the mail-lady was at the front gate because I was expecting a package. Instead, what happened was my phone (which of course was on the charger in my office closet) rang and I was in my clothes closet and heard it somewhere near its last ring. By the time I got to the phone, it had stopped singing. I saw that Hubby had called so I called him back. No answer. Meanwhile, at the same time (and unbeknownst to me) Hubby had come home and was in back of the house trying to get the dogs in the kennel so he could let poor Mr. Nick (whose is mostly blind and can’t hear) out of his truck while he hooked up his trailer (taking a breath here). The dogs heard the mail lady blow her horn and took off just as he almost had them to the kennel where he then saw the snake. He had the dogs running off, me not answering the phone, the snake in the kennel, Mr. Nick in the truck, and the mail lady at the gate blowing the horn.

        As Hubby is walking back up the drive he starts telling me all of the above and of course, I have all of my questions (the sequence of events) which to him are not that important. When did you see the snake? Is it dead? Is it alive? Were the dogs in the kennel? Did you kill it? How did you see it? There are thousands of mothballs, why is there a snake in the kennel? Yes, the ramblings of a freaking out me!        Just the sort of dilemma he doesn’t like. By then I heard the dogs barking and was going out the front door when I saw Hubby running down the long driveway to the gate. At this point, I am still oblivious (my usual state of being) to what is happening.

        Eventually, I did get all of my ridiculous questions answered, but not before having to follow him to the kennel where he proceeded to get the shovel to kill the snake.

        Don’t worry. I was wondering the same thing – was the snake just sitting quietly all this time waiting for Hubby to kill it? Turns out, in the course of answering some of my barrage of questions, Hubby (who fortunately had his white shrimp boots on) had stomped it enough that it was well stunned and paralysed from the attack. So, yes, I guess it was just sort of waiting for Hubby to return to finish it off.

        Then, after killing the snake and picking it (up) and a bird that the dogs had managed to catch and that was now deceased as well, and disposing of them, I kennelled the dogs and Hubby let poor Mr. Nick out of the truck – who had no clue what all the commotion was about. Then, Hubby had to explain the entire fiasco to Mr. Nick.

        Just another typical day on the farm with “Lucy”; although sometimes, it’s more like an episode of Green Acres and Lucy comes to visit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reposted from April 2013.

 

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