The Snake That Almost Got Away

By Al Yoder

I climbed out of the shower and went to activate the alarm system just before dark around 5:45 pm. As I reached for the alarm button, I noticed a six-foot-long snake just inches from my hand. Fortunately, it was on the outside of the screen. I grabbed my rifle, took careful aim at the snake's head, then click. Oh, no! Out of ammunition! The snake didn't like the clicking noise and slithered onto the porch where our pregnant German shepherd was sleeping. I dressed quickly while my wife Kim scrambled for more bullets. To add to the excitement, about 25 young people from the church youth group were arriving on our porch. I told them to stay put while I got the bullets and ran outside, pulling our puzzled dog into the house. Taking careful aim, I let roll a shot that went in and out of the snake's coiled body twice. That made the snake even less friendly! It slithered under the side of the house and, I thought, right INTO the house. I ran back inside, looking for the snake, when a poorly hung towel (left by my youngest son) fell on the floor. That scared me out of my wits. Then one of the young people yelled, "The snake's still out here!"

One of the youth got down on the floor and shot, but the gun jammed. The snake then moved under the porch. I finally unjammed the gun and gave it back to my young friend. But he kept missing the snake. Finally the snake fell down on him. The young man grabbed a machete and ended the snake's bad day.

We all slept well that night.