Snake Skin Surprise.

  Snakes are creatures that I rarely see. Actually, I have no desire to see them. They're not really my cup of tea. My sister, however, used to have a very large corn snake. It was yellow and white, and its very long body filled its glass cage where it would only occasionally move. Once a week Suzy would feed it a mouse which, in a flash, would disappear down the snakes throat, and then it would go back to its rather boring existence. It was, you could say, the easiest of pets. Here, where I live, there are some native snakes that people do run into every now and then. We have the garter snake that is black and white which can swim, and gives birth to live babies, no need for eggs. Then there is the harmless bull snake that is brownish grey that kills rattle snakes. And then the rattlers. They are the ones to watch out for. I suppose, the humans around here have respect for and fear of these stripy, unpredictable animals. I have heard many stories of people finding a rattler in their kitchen, or front garden, or that their dog was bitten by one. Last week, a gentleman came to work at our house, and while he was there, he noticed my rottweiler, so we started talking about dogs. He told me that he lives outside of town on 120 acres of hillside where it is fairly dry. His dog was bitten by a rattler and needed expensive treatment at the vets. Thankfully, it was alright. "It's dry land, so its where the rattlers like to be," he said to me. He continued with his story to tell me that this year alone he has killed eleven rattlesnakes, one of which had eight rattles. Yuk! That one must have been huge! "So, why don't you move closer to town where it's not so dry?" I asked.  He just smiled and said, "I prefer snakes to people."