I mowed a snake, and I don't like it. It's not the first time - usually they bolt away from the mower, but every once in awhile one will shoot right under the deck. This was the first of five I saw when I was mowing Tuesday, all black snakes between 3 and 4 feet long. The rest survived the day, as far as I know. The third one shot out of the grass and onto the pavement at such a speed that it slid sideways out of control like a puppy on linoleum.
Today I was back at that location with a hedge trimmer and a chainsaw, and most of a can of wasp/hornet spray. I usually sustain a sting or two doing the hedges - I smack at the bushes with a rake before going in with the clippers to expose invisible nests, but some escape detection. Today, for example, I didn't look up. I was cutting down a 20' tall nuisance, and about halfway up it was wasps by the hundreds. I have not previously been stung so many times at once - it was fire! Hours later I'm still feeling the burn. I sat in the cab of my truck sipping water for almost ten minutes, listening to the chainsaw still sputtering where I dropped it, with a cloud of wasps around it. I step on wasps and bees every now and then - the price of barefoot comfort - but today's assault felt like the price of mowing a snake.
