Dominion

On Saturday, Chris took a skid loader to the front cement stoop of our house with the hopes that we might find where the snakes were getting in. To say that it was a success is an understatement.

He ripped the top off the stoop to discover that when it was built, it was built hollow (which is pretty typical) and then filled with sand. SAND. Sand is a bull snake's best friend. They are known for their love of burrowing in sand.

And right above where the sand stopped was some wood flashing (I think that's what it's called?) that had rotted.


See the hole that I have circled there? That hole leads directly into...you guessed it...our house. Specifically it leads into the floor joists between the two levels. Mmm-hmmm.

And Chris also discovered quite a few snake skins. Nice.

I can't allow myself to look at the pictures because it makes me extremely anxious and jittery. So I'll let you look at them instead.

Anyway, it looks as if Chris has eliminated their MAIN access point, but he still needs to go around and look for other entry points and close them off. But I feel much better knowing that we most likely won't be seeing those nasty critters anymore.

I know you're wondering why the title of this post is "Dominion". I'll share a couple little stories that will help to enlighten you...

When we had our very first snake in the house in October of 2007, Chris was anything but manly about it. He'll be the first to admit that he was like a little girl trying to wrangle that snake. The first one we ever had was on our kitchen counter, and most likely had come up through the sink that leads straight out to the drainage tile. (Chris has since put in a special drain with a valve that lets water OUT but nothing can come IN.)

I thought I'd post a video of that inaugural snake-wrangling to give you (and me) a nice little chuckle for today. BUT BEWARE: Don't watch this in front of young ears because Chris says the D-word. We've laughed at this video over and over because first of all, Chris is such a girl about it, and second of all, I got to laughing so hard at Chris's girliness that I snorted. Enjoy!

And last Thursday when he was trying to find the snake in the mechanical room, apparently he was feeling pretty nervous because I heard him giving himself a pep talk, saying to the snake, "I have DOMINION over you!" Because God has given us dominion over evil, and Chris directly relates snakes to evil. Thus the title of the blog...

They're BA-ACK...and they're early

About 30 minutes ago, I heard a most unwelcome sound. It was a sound that I was really hoping to never hear again.

I heard something in the mechanical room make a hollow "thud" against the duct, followed immediately by the sound of something slapping onto the cement floor.

I heard the sound. My mind processed the sound. And I said out loud, "Nuh-uh...noooo......" But sure enough, I opened the mechanical room door to discover what I was hoping I hadn't really heard.

A snake.

A month early.

I had just told Chris last night that I was betting we'd see a snake this week since the temperature outside is quite cool. But I was SO hoping I would be wrong.

Silly me. I'm never wrong. It's truly a curse.

And the glorious thing is that we haven't quite seen the end of our flea problem. We haven't seen any fleas on any of us, but we've got bowls of soapy water lined up outside the mechanical room, catching most of the ones that try to escape. The good news is that the numbers have decreased A LOT, but apparently there are still some in their little protective cocoons in there and we just have to wait for them to emerge. But they're leaving us alone, and dying off really soon after emerging from their cocoons, so I was finally feeling less creepy crawly about being in my own home. I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

And now...

Snakes.

Seriously. Okay, so I've only technically seen ONE snake. But having ONE snake in my house is JUST NOT OKAY ANYMORE!

But hey, at least my middle-of-the-night strolls to the bathroom won't be so mundane. Now my heart will get a-pumping as I tiptoe around the corners, keeping my groggy eyes peeled for more of those creepy crawlers.

I can hardly wait.