Snakes on a Plane? How 'bout in the Back Yard?

It has been hot....and dry....

In this southern college town. In an attempt to circumvent mother nature, I was going to water my vegetable garden, when ........out of the corner of my eye .....I saw this black string.

Not an ordinary string.......big..........black........and crawling. About six feet ..........I immediately went back to the garage to get what I thought would be my necessary tools. A cultivator and a hoe.

And there it was........him .....and me. A 6 foot rat snake. In my back yard. I stared..........he stared....Hissing and taunting me with that forked tongue. He had made the mistake of coming out into the open. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I measured him...........I swung the cultivator ...........and pinned him down. He still did not surrender. I stood over him and admired his tenacity ......

And with one swing of my hoe............off came his head. The rest of his body still moved and slithered...........His tongue was still wagging from its' head.....even after being severed from its' body.

My first snake kill. And I'm here to tell you..........what a rush! Man against beast..........good versus evil...........It just doesn't get much better.

Summer time in the deep south? Priceless........