What's Worse Than Seeing A Rattlesnake?

Not seeing the rattlesnake.

I have had 3 hours of sleep because I've been keeping snake vigil.

Last night while I was feeding I noticed a strange looking stone. I didn't know for sure it was a stone as it was in shadow. It at first looked like one of the large toxic toads native to our area. Something just wasn't quite right about it. I moved closer. About the time I realized "no, it's just a rock", a small diamond shaped head and neck appeared across one end.

The snake was small, but size doesn't matter in rattlesnakes. A ten inch rattler is just as toxic as a 3 foot rattler. This was about 2 feet from a stall holding two inquisitive noses that are quite dear to me. I hurried for the shovel.

I was back in less than 30 seconds, just in time to see the tail of the snake move over the rock. I'd planted some bermuda grass in that area to give the horses fresh grass for treats and in times of illness. The snake had crawled down into the thatch. I began chopping the heck out of the grass patch.

My son got home from work about that time and saw me hacking away with the shovel. The only reason to hack away with a shovel in the barn, at night, in the summer is the presence of a rattler. He came running and, upon hearing what happened, got another shovel and we both hacked like crazy at the grass patch.

Then we got a pitchfork and began combing the grass to look for remains or a small very ticked off snake. The horses were all munching their hay and staring at us as if we were the lone television in the lobby of an asylum.

Finding no remains and no live snake we sat. And watched. And sat. My son walked through all the paddocks with the flashlight and all the stalls to see if it had escaped. We were on guard until a late (oh man was it late) night lightening storm drove us inside at around 3 am.

I've just been out to feed. I went over the grass patch in daylight and still see no sign of the snake. He either got away or we pureed him. The problem is that we don't know which it is. I'll have to mow today, not like I didn't have 50 other things to do. And, because I think he got away, I'll be on snake vigil again tonight.

If he was a smart snake he crawled like hell back to whatever hole allowed him entrance through the snake fencing and into the barn. But I have no more confidence in that, than I do that there is puree of rattlesnake in my bermuda thatch.