Attached is a picture of our fish pond. Notice that the fish are not small, ranging from about 8 to 11 or 12 inches in length. They are also fat bodied. Some of them are almost 3 inches wide. While doing some outside painting this morning I heard a loud splashing in the pond. As I approached I noticed that the noise was coming from the left side of the pond in the Pickerel Weed (the tall broad-leafed plants to the left in the photo). When I peered down into the plant I saw a large Garter Snake hanging from the rocks at the edge of the pond with one of the large white fish, a Shubunkin, in its mouth. It had the fish out of the water and was having trouble dragging it up onto the rocks. The splashing had been the fish trying to escape. Now this snake was about 2 feet long and was a bit bigger round than a man's thumb. Even though it was large for a Garter Snake and even if its jaws did unhinge to allow for swallowing larger prey, there is no way this snake could have swallowed that fish. I reached down and grabbed the snake by the tail. Fortunately the surprised snake dropped the fish as I flung it up into the yard away from the pond. As soon as it hit the grass it turned and tried to come back to the pond. I blocked its path. The only thing I had was a paint bucket. Each time it turned to go around me I stopped it. I didn't want to kill it, but I also didn't want it back in the pond. Then the snake became agressive and tried to strike. I yelled for Lynda, hoping she could bring me the broom so I could hold it down long enough to catch it and move it to some other spot. I yelled and I whistled and I howled. The neighbors probably thought I had gone crazy, but they think that already so they probably just shook their heads and ignored the noise. Unfortunately, Lynda had the TV on and couldn't hear me or so she said. She is terrified of snakes so it does make one wonder. After blocking the snake for a couple more times, it decided the direct route was the best course. Before I knew it the snake was going between my legs. Needless to say this did not improve the situation, especially from my point of view. I quickly spread my feet to maximum distance, probably farther than I had ever done before, especially while being four feet off the ground. Just as the last of the snake passed between my legs I once again reached solid ground and made a grab for it, and once again grabbed it by the tail. This time however the snake was mad, and as I raised it from the ground, its body curled quickly upward toward the hand that was holding it. Realizing that this was not in my best interest I once again flung the snake even farther into the backyard and farther away from the pond. Believe it or not the snake still turned to come back toward the pond, then changed its mind and headed in the direction of the house. I had thought the situation was bad enough before, but now as the mental image of my wife being confronted by the snake somewhere in our house when she least expected it passed through my mind, I came to the conclusion that I may be dead or at the very least be divorced very soon unless I acted quickly. In a desperate attempt to save my marriage and possibly my life, I grabbed the snake once more by the tail, and before it could react, I swung it in a complete circle by extending my arm fully and sent it cartwheeling through the air with more force than I had before. I could see it go in slow motion with the trees and the sky as a background as it arced toward the edge of the yard nearest the road. It plopped down unhurt on the grass and decided it had had enough. It quickly scrambled over the bank away from the yard and disappeared. When I went to the back door, still breathing heavily from my acrobatics and my decathlon throw, and told Lynda what had transpired, she seemed sympathetic, but as she turned away was that a bit of a sheepish look I saw on her face? I couldn't be sure. Roger Mayhorn Compton Mt
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