Hunnybun The Snake Slayer

In case you missed the story about my rescuing a rat snake tangled in some vegetable netting, click here.  While my experince with the snake was not frightening, Hunnybun had a much more dramatic experience.

Note:  About 25 years ago he was bitten on the leg by a copperhead and is understandably jumpy when it comes to the slithering reptiles.

It was Saturday morning and he went out to his shop to begin working on his next project. He discovered he needed a fitting to make an adjustment on whatever he was working on and opened his tool chest.  For informational purposes, Hunnybun is extremely organized and has all his tools, hoses and whatnots in proper order. 

Ok, now we get to the exciting part. Are you ready?   Have you been to the bathroom recently? Seriously, if not, you may want to go drain your radiator for this is quite intense.

Waiting...

Waiting...

Waiting...



He opened the top drawer of the tool chest and suddenly is struck at by not one but three copper head vipers!  With the drawer open and the snakes coming out of the drawer, the exit is blocked. He reaches for an axe and takes a swing. Missed!  Swings again and misses! Snake strikes and misses! 

Copperhead Photo

Hunnybun swears and notices his propane blow torch 8 feet away. He backs away, grabs the propane torch and lights it. Keep in mind this propane torch is like a mini flame thrower, typically used to burn weeds or light the barbeque grill depending on the circumstances.  He is now armed with an axe in his right hand  and the torch in the other.

He lights the torch, turns the flame all the way up and. WHOOOOSSSH one snake down!  Keep in mind there are three at this point.  The second snake had slithered behind the work bench and around the the wood burning stove. He pivots and WHOOOSSSH french fried copper head! 

Two down, one to go.  Hunnybun spins back to the left and the third copper head is eye to eye with him. The snake strikes nearly hitting hunnybun in the chest. Hunnybun swings the axe, nicks the snake and then finished him off with the torch. 

Whew!!!! 

Hunnybun gathers his composer and makes his way to exit the shop when he is confronted again by another copper head!  HOLY @%&_*#!   He grabs the rake and WHAP, the snake gets it!  So now, the count is up to four copper heads in his shop!  Hunnybun takes another deep breath and steps outside his shop door still armed with the rake.  He is then stopped cold by one more snake and this time it is a water mocassin!  He backs into the shop, lights the torch and WHHHOOOSH!  The snake lurches forward, hisses and strikes while on fire, fortunately it perished quickly.

The excitement is not over, ohhhh nooo, that would be too simple.  Sniff, sniff, that's and odd smell, and no it is not the charred flesh of the snake, it is the shop! The shop is on fire in about six different places including the curtain over the window.  Hunnybun rushed to the water faucet, turned it on and extinguished the fire before it got out of hand. Thank goodness! 

After regaling me in the story Hunnybun took the day off and opted to take a long nap. 

We have lived on our little piece of heaven for nearly ten years.  We have seen snakes on occasion but never like this.  I guess it was our lucky day... (yes, there is sarcasm in my tone) Why the copperheads were nesting in the shop is beyond me...

That evening Hunnybun went through every inch of his shop and did not find anymore snakes. Hopefully this does not happen ever again but I can assure you that we will all be on our guard when entering the workshop and opening the storage compartments or simply reaching for a tool.

Something that may be noteworthy is a local farmer told me that snakes are going to be "bad this year". Admittedly, I have not researched his claim but as of right now, I am taking his word for it...