Raccoons, and Rattlesnakes and Spiders Oh My

Let me begin this post by saying I love living in the country. We have lots of wide open space to roam and play without worrying about disturbing any neighbors. There is lots of cool wildlife to see and hear right outside our door. We have a fox living in a hedgerow in front of our house, deer often wander through the yard or in the fields, and there are lots of different birds to watch. Not all wildlife is fun to have around though. A couple weeks ago I was home trying to get some work done in peace and quiet when our dog started barking and crying like she was hurt. I looked outside to find her being attacked by a raccoon. So much for peace and quiet. Last night while I was mowing the grass I saw something moving across the yard. I quickly realized it was a snake and being the brave girl that I am I screamed over the roar of the mower to get Timmy's attention. Now this was not some harmless little black snake. Oh no, this was a 42 inch rattlesnake leisurely making its way across the wide open back yard in the heat of the evening. Thankfully Timmy was able to get his pistol and shoot it. I am terrified that its brothers sisters and children are lurking around just waiting to get us. I do NOT like snakes! Josh of course thought it was cool and wants to take the rattles to show his friends at school. As the title of this post implies, we have issues with spiders as well. Most are harmless but we have had a number of the poisonous ones around also. When Josh was 15 months old he was bit on the thumb by a black widow spider. I panicked and rushed him to the hospital where we spent the night for observation. He had absolutely no problems from the bite, thank God, and we went home the next morning exhausted and a bit more leery of the creepy crawlies in our yard. Now I am afraid after all of these wierd events that not a soul will ever want to visit or allow their children to come to our house. I'm kind of scared to let my own children go outside unless one of us is out there with a weapon to protect them.

snake in the grass

EWWW