Rattlesnake in the berrypatch

Nancy’s crisp for lunch

The Blackberries were prolific in the garden this year and Nancy has been dreaming of making a Blackberry Crisp. With basket in hand and Jacob her faithful lamb companion by her side she headed for the hedge which separated the duck pen from the garden and started to fill a large basket with beautiful ripe berries.

Being nearly done she thought she might go into the duck pen to see what berries had managed to escape the ducks efforts to clean their side of the fence. That’s when she spotted a rattlesnake that had been only feet from where she and Jacob had been rifling through the vines grabbing berries. The snake, which was good sized for our region of Idaho, had somehow gotten its head stuck in the chicken-wire fence that the berries had been growing on and for some reason neglected to rattle.

Nancy is no stranger to rattlesnakes after so many years of country living but that didn’t stop her from screaming my name at the top of her lungs calling me to run to her rescue. I, being on the back forty at the time, however, failed to hear her plea.

It wasn’t long for Nancy to realize she was on her own and not wanting to take the chance of the old snake getting Jacob, the ducks, or just slithering into her garden foliage to hide, decided that rather than running to the house for a shotgun would instead behead the poor old guy with a nearby shovel.  This she did and later said with composure and confidence, “It was an easy kill.”

“Holy cow”, I thought, “what a woman”.

Anyway, the snake was soon eliminated from the garden and delicious Blackberry Crips was served for lunch in only a matter of hours. “Holy cow”, I thought again, “What a woman”.