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Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 4, 2014 14:22:23 GMT -5
Just a humorous reminder that it's now warm weather and snake-season is here!
Last night, I made a late trip to Wally World. After letting old "Minnie Mouse" cool down, I went out to cover her up for the night. I chain the scoot to a beam in my car-port, and cover her with a nylon cycle-cover, then with a "tent" made from a heavy silver tarp.
It was now 1am and not much illumination from my porch light. Upon picking up the tarp, I gave it a shake to remove sticks, dirt and bugs. A large "stick" hit me and stuck to my shirt... Then began crawling up toward my surprised old face... LOL! The "stick" was a sleeping copperhead...
Before having a heart attack, I did my BEST Steve Irwin impersonation, grabbing my visitor "by him's widdle tail"... and placed him on rodent-control duty at the other end of the house... What a "reality-check". I've had copperheads in my car twice, and should have been more alert. This little guy was on the tarp, but... A scooter has SO many places for a critter to get into...
I gotta put myself in the snake's shoes... (thinking about a snake wearing shoes is sort of funny!). Here you are, good old Charlie Copperhead, out with your pals Randy Rattler and Cottonmouth Joe. You were hanging out, dodging coyotes at the community dumpster and just finished enjoying a late-night dinner consisting of a nice, fat, juicy dumpster-rat. Now it's time to get home to the missus and little ones.
There you are, home, but laying on a cold, damp slab of concrete. Then, your little heat-sensors point you to a newly-parked scooter! The aroma of the road starts getting to you... Warm rubber, pungent motor-oil and hot Prestone. Absolutely irresistible!
You are ENTICED! You shinny up the center-stand and onto the beckoning warm engine. Back to the CVT area... TOO lumpy. Then up to the head... TOO hot. Finally, you arrive on the block, cuddled up beneath the carb, luxuriating on the warm, inviting "Chinesium"... Life is good when you're a snake.
Now, however, when the hapless rider fires up the scoot next morning, just where does old Charlie the snake go? I shudder to think... It's enough to tighten one's posterior like a bull's butt at fly-time.
I am pretty careful to do a "pre-flight check" of the scoot before riding off. And, I am always looking to see if any hornets, Black Widows or Brown-Recluses have made homes in visible areas... Problem is, there are a LOT of non-visible areas beneath the plastics... Hmmm... Now I wonder if I'm carrying any non-paying passengers!
From now on, I'll be using a flashlight and mirror more often! LOL!
Ride safe, and remember: Copperheads, Cottonmouths and rattlers are NOT limited to Texas... They are found nearly EVERYWHERE in the USA. Remember that old joke... depending on just WHERE old Charlie bites ya'... Your pal you send for help may say: "...The doc says yer' gonna die..."
So... "Watch yer' six" and evict the stow-aways before heading down the road...
Leo (now doing better pre-ride inspections) in Texas
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Post by dev150cc on Jun 4, 2014 15:33:19 GMT -5
AAAHHHH!!!!!
I think as a kid growing up in Houston suburbs, I got accustomed to seeing the odd snake around. These days I don't think about it, but yeesh......
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Post by spandi on Jun 4, 2014 15:47:25 GMT -5
YAHHHHH-EEEE, LEO!!!! Maybe a lot MORE illumination around Mini (and maybe poke around with a LONG stick first!) What a Nightmare! (and here I thought somebody famous had visted a Chinese scoot dealer!  ) |
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Post by JerryScript on Jun 4, 2014 17:51:46 GMT -5
Just remember, with out those snakes, there would be a lot more varmints around your house!
I'm glad to hear you are safe.
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Post by dev150cc on Jun 4, 2014 23:53:38 GMT -5
You need to tie a guard cat up to your scoot at night. Or an owl. Or an eagle. Or something. I'm going to have nightmares about opening my seat storage.
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Post by spandi on Jun 5, 2014 0:02:07 GMT -5
You need to tie a guard cat up to your scoot at night. Or an owl. Or an eagle. Or something. I'm going to have nightmares about opening my seat storage. Are you kidding? Leo needs Rikki Tikki Tavi! |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 5, 2014 0:16:47 GMT -5
Just remember, with out those snakes, there would be a lot more varmints around your house! I'm glad to hear you are safe.
The snakes keep the varmints away and my cats keep the snakes out of the house... As for the cars and the scooter though... The jury's still out! You should see the look on the face of the car-techs when I take one in for inspection and tell them there were a couple of copperheads in the car, but I don't know where they are now... LOL! I guess this IS a good rationale for a "nekkid" scoot like the Ruckus!When I covered old "Minnie Mouse" tonight, I gave everything a good once-over! No snakes tonight... Ride safe!Leo |
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Post by rockynv on Jun 5, 2014 3:50:25 GMT -5
Had a Diamond Back Rattler get past the dog and cat into my living room which caused some tense moments until I rangled it and did the needful. I removed the two bushes by the front doorway and now keep a bottle of Snake-A-Way near the door. Lately my neighbor has been complaining of snakes in his bushes. I keep the bike in the garage where I only have to worry about lethal South American Recluse spiders and the Widows. www.drtsnatureproducts.com/store/snake-repellent?s_kwcid=TC-1026339-6687077222-be-1085141935 |
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Post by SylvreKat on Jun 5, 2014 6:26:24 GMT -5
Gosh rocky, my Mom would've gone through the bucket in a week. She hates snakes.
Me, I don't mind them. The old house was right across from a hay field. I'd find shed snake skins occasionally in the basement and would bury them in the bottom of the trash. I figured the snake I never saw was better than the mice who chewed things and left droppings everywhere!
>'Kat
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Post by ng5y on Jun 5, 2014 7:54:44 GMT -5
I recognize the contribution that non venomous snakes make, but a copper head snake would most likely not survive a near scooter encounter with me.
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Post by spandi on Jun 5, 2014 8:04:21 GMT -5
There could be worse "wildlife" encounters. We had a tech guy in Palm Desert open an access panel to check on some fiber-optics and out flew a swarm of Killer Bees. A 70 year old woman, minding her own business getting out of her nearby parked car was stung over 1000 times (she survived the attack btw.)
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Post by JerryScript on Jun 5, 2014 10:33:01 GMT -5
I went to a friend's house warming party several years back here in Vegas. They had unfinished landscaping, including barrel cactus. One of the kids ran into the house from the backyard saying the cactus was moving. We went outside to investigate, and sure enough the cactus was actually rotating a bit in the pot it was in. The new homeowner pushed it with a stick, and it popped open spilling out thousands of baby scorpions. Needless to say, a bit of hysteria ran through the crowd, but no one was stung.
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Post by rockynv on Jun 5, 2014 12:39:54 GMT -5
Be thankful this isn't China:
The Tim Allen "More Power" Solution:
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Post by spandi on Jun 5, 2014 13:16:57 GMT -5
Just hope they don't show up in a cargo container!  |
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Post by rockynv on Jun 6, 2014 3:04:00 GMT -5
The guy holding the nozzle of the flame thrower by his left ear has to be really confident in the guy holding the other end thats for sure.
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