The Snake Hunter

Posted on May 30, 2020 by TJ

A lot of crazy things happening in our country–and the world–these days. I’m researching, reflecting, sharing, and writing about them on my Facebook and Twitter pages. But not here. I think all of us–or at least many of us–need a quiet place to withdraw to. to relax at, and just to enjoy. So in this blog, I’m just writing about the quiet, gentle aspects of my life.

Michigan’s weather can be changeable, and it has certainly been changeable lately. Last weekend and earlier this week, we had very hot, humid weather. The temperature even reached into the upper 80s on some days! I felt drained by the heat and outdoor tasks quickly overheated me. One morning I chatted on FB with a friend from Australia. It was morning for me, evening for her; early summer for me, early winter for her. She asked how I was, and I told her that it was super hot and I was melting. “How hot is it?” I checked. “Uhm,” I replied, squirming in embarrassment. “It’s 64 degrees (F), which is 17 degrees (C) for you.” She laughed. Ok, no one can say that 64 degrees is scorching hot. “But it’s HUMID,” I explained. “And I think I must have snowman DNA.”

In the middle of the week, we had rain, rain, rain. EJ came home from work early one evening because he wasn’t feeling well. He read that we could get bad thunderstorms with heavy rain, strong wind, and hail that evening, so even though he wasn’t feeling well, he went out and covered all his garden plants. I lugged in the houseplants that I had taken to the deck for the summer. We didn’t get a storm, but I don’t think it was as bad as predicted. However, I think some areas got 2-3 inches of rain. Our rain gauge said we got about 1 1/2 inches.

There are frost/freeze warnings out for tonight and tomorrow night. So in one week the weather in Michigan has gone from hot and humid, to rainy, and now to freezing cold.

We adopted our cats Theo and Millie from the Michigan Barn Cat Program, which finds homes for cats that prefer living outside rather than inside. Theo and Millie have a nice safe, comfy home in the large coop. We shut them safely in the coop with the chickens at night, and they are free to wander outside during the day. Theo and Millie are earning their keep–they are killing rodents such as mice, moles, and chipmunks. Theo especially enjoys going after the mice. Often he is hunting them when I go out in the evenings to put everyone in the coop. Millie apparently prefers to go after snakes. A little earlier today I saw her running across the front yard carrying a snake. She took it around the house. This was the second snake I’ve seen her catch. I actually never imagined cats would hunt snakes. I sort of prefer that she wouldn’t go after snakes, but….? I think Michigan has only one venomous snake which isn’t common. And at least Millie is not going after songbirds.

I was able to video Millie running with her snake, but she was fast and in a few seconds she was around the house.