One of the perks of being an author is connecting with readers who not only love our books but enjoy interacting with us, as if we’ve been friends for a long time. Thanks to venues like Facebook Messenger and Facebook groups with all the parties they enable, readers often share with us personal glimpses into their lives, their worries, or even their knowledge.
Jeffrey Ward is one of those readers. (Yep, he’s a guy who loves and reads romances voraciously.) I first ‘met’ him when I was doing the Love Train series, and he wrote me a lovely review for my book, CHRISTIANA. I even used a quote from him in my marketing. I’m pleased to say he joined right in with the Pink Pistol series, too. Loyal and intelligent, an avid patriot, a loving husband . . . I could keep gushing, but you get my point, right?
So after reading ARMED & MARVELOUS, in which the Prologue opens with a bear-hunting excursion, Jeff sent this article to me about the grizzly bears Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, along with their men, encountered on their famous expedition across the wilds of our country.
I found it fascinating. Both Lewis and Clark kept meticulous records, and thankfully for us and the pages of history, they did. With Jeff’s permission, I’m sharing a few snippets of their encounters with wild bear.
(You’ll note that the spelling and verbage was as written at the time and was not corrected for modern reading.)
On 7 October 1804, at the Moreau River, about 15 river-miles below present Mobridge, South Dakota, the men noticed the first evidence of the presence of a grizzly. Clark wrote:
“… at the mouth of this river we Saw the Tracks of White bear which was verry large.”
Between this point and their last encounter with a grizzly on 6 August 1806, near today’s Williston, North Dakota, the total number sighted cannot be known. Forty-three were definitely killed, and an unknown number were wounded.
PAM: 43 bears? Yikes!
On 13 April 1805, at the Little Missouri River, Lewis wrote:
“the Indians give a very formidable account of the strength and ferocity of this anamal, which they never dare to attack but in parties of six, eight or ten persons; and are even then frequently defeated with the loss of one or more of their party. the Indians attack this anamal with their bows and arrows and the indifferent guns with which the traders furnish them, with these they shoot with such uncertainty and at so short a distance . . . that they frequently mis their aim & fall a sacrefice to the bear. . . . this anamall is said more frequently to attack a man on meeting with him, than to flee from him. When the Indians are about to go in quest of the white bear, previous to their departure, they paint themselves and perform all those supersticious rights commonly observed when they are about to make war uppon a neighbouring nation.”
PAM: I found this fascinating, too, since the Indians were true warriors and TOUGH. I admire their attempts to defend and kill a grizzly when they had the most elementary of weapons.
On 5 May 1805, in the vicinity of Wolf Point, Montana, Lewis wrote:
“Capt. Clark & Drewyer killed the largest brown bear this evening which we have yet seen. it was a most tremendious looking anamal, and extreemly hard to kill notwithstanding he had five balls through his lungs and five others in various parts he swam more than half the distance across the river to a sandbar & it was at least twenty minutes before he died; he did not attempt to attact, but fled and made the most tremendous roaring from the moment he was shot.”
Lewis took measurements:
“We had no means of weighing this monster; Capt. Clark thought he would weigh 500 lbs. for my own part I think the estimate to small by 100 lbs. He measured 8 Feet 7-1/2 Inches from nose to extremity of the hind feet; 5 F. 10-1/2 Inch arround the breast, 1 F. 11 I[nches]. arround the middle of the arm, & 3 F. 11 I. arround the neck; his tallons which were five in number on each foot were 4-3/8 Inches in length.”
PAM: These measurements are shocking for their size! It’s almost inconceivable that a bear could survive being shot 10 times and still manage to flee across the river, and even then survive another twenty minutes.
On 11 May 1805, a few miles upstream from the mouth of the Milk River, one member of the party had a hairbreadth escape from death. Lewis recorded the details:
Private William Bratton, who was not among their best hunters:
“. . . had shot a brown bear which immediately turned on him and pursued him a considerable distance but he had wounded it so badly that it could not overtake him; I immediately turned out with seven of the party in quest of this monster, we at length found his trale and persued him about a mile by the blood through very thick brush of rosbushes and the large leafed willow; we finally found him concealed in some very thick brush and shot him through the skull with two balls. . . . we proceeded dress him as soon as possible, . . . we now found that Bratton had shot him through the center of the lungs, notwithstanding which he had pursued him near half a mile and had returned more than double that distance and with his tallons had prepared himself a bed in the earth of about 2 feet deep and five long and was perfectly alive when we found him which could not have been less than 2 hours after he received the wound”
PAM: Amazing that the bear’s instincts were to dig itself a hole that large, which would have taken a formidable amount of strength after having been mortally wounded!
Certainly, their interludes with grizzly bears didn’t end there and were a constant threat during their expedition. It’s a wonder the explorers weren’t killed, but perhaps survived only by their wits, their weapons, and the safety of their limited numbers.
If you’d like to read more, here is a link to the page: https://tinyurl.com/2p8ruc74
I am the biggest wimp. I avoid stray dogs and bugs and anything else that crawls. I could not imagine defending myself against a massive bear!!!
Have you encountered a scary animal? What living thing freaks you out?
Chat with me, and I’ll give away a copy of ARMED & MARVELOUS, Book #8 in the Pink Pistol Sisterhood series, your choice of ebook or paperback.
After a terrible tragedy, wild game hunter Rexanna Brennan returns home to her family’s ranch to heal. She never expects to learn her crazy aunt has left her a pink pistol with an even crazier legend. But more unsettling, a Hollywood cowboy has moved onto the ranch, stealing her family’s hearts and maybe her legacy, too.
False accusations throw Roan Bertoletti into scandal and yank him out of his movie star life. His reputation shredded, he grasps at the second chance the Brennan family gives him. With his roots firmly planted, he’s living his dream to be a cowboy again, and he has no plans to leave the ranch anytime soon.
But Rexanna’s grief pulls at him. So does her insistence she can’t stay. Can he convince the beautiful heiress to claim what has always been hers? Time is running out, and so are his options.
Except for the pink pistol . . .
Pam has written 30 romances, most of them historical westerns, but she's proud of her contemporary sweet romances featuring the Blackstone Ranch series published by Tule Publishing, too! Stay up on the latest at www.pamcrooks.com
I have seen bears, mountain lions, and venomous snakes. There was a bear that lived somewhere near us and he would sometimes plant his butt down in our yard at night. I worked late and the bleeping thing would stay there for hours. I would just have to wait until he left. He was just sitting and looking around.
Oh, my goodness. How annoying to have to wait out that bear after working long hours! Did you ever try honking your horn or something to scare him away? LOL.
Oh, he would just look unimpressed and continue sitting there. 🙂 Stupid bear.
Oh, and last year a mountain lion was outside of our house. That was fun.
I’ve seen bears, but fortunately I was inside the house.
Snakes outside.
I am so NOT a snake girl. I shudder to even think of them as I type this. And lucky for me, I’ve never seen a bear outside of the house since I live in the city, but even when we’ve rented an outdoorsey place, I’ve never seen one. If I did, I’d be afraid to step outside!
I’ve never had a personal encounter with a bear, but I’ve seen several from a long distance when hiking, & once (carefully)rescued a bull snake (after positive identification) from some deer netting it was tangled in.
The only scary encounter I’ve had was when I was expecting my first child & there was some construction in the area. We suddenly found our home infested with black widow spiders. I’m not normally squeamish… in fact I usually catch & release critters that I find in my home back outside to where they belong, but I wasn’t taking any chances! We smashed any black widows that we found in the house!
Black widows??? Oh, that would be it for me. I’d be out of there in no time. I’d have nightmares of them crawling onto my face while I was sleeping or something.
You’re a braver girl then me, Ami. I’d sign my life away for a professional exterminator before I stepped foot in that house again. Yikes!!
I’ve never seen a live bear though I did see a dead one after it was hunted.
They are big, aren’t they? Fascinating, too, as long as they are dead. Ha!
I was suprise at how large the paws were. Every part of the bear was used.
Yes, HUGE paws. Powerful and lethal, for sure!
Although I have encountered and sometimes killed copperheads and been outside when a rabid dog came by, I think the scariest encounter I had was with a cat. I heard my cat in a tree sounding terrified, so I assumed a tom had her treed. I went out to scare it away, and a bobcat jumped out of the tree and confronted me. Thankfully, I was close enough to the door to scurry back inside, but my heart raced from the surprise of it all and the close encounter.
You’ve killed copperheads???? Janice! Yikes!
And, so scary about that bobcat. They are fast and agile! Thank goodness you were close to the house. I hope your cat was able to get free safely. I’d be afraid that bobcat was in every tree from then on.
On another note, I was so, so disappointed that I didn’t get to meet you in Deadwood. How in the world did that happen? I know you spoke with numerous fillies–I don’t know what I was doing when you were, but I couldn’t believe I missed you!
No, I haven’t encountered any scary animals. I wouldn’t want to encounter any bears or snakes.
That makes two of us, Diana!
Well, that was interesting! I’m a wimp now Pam! But, I use to be young and didn’t know better to be frighten! LOL But, going after bears? Uh…..I don’t thing even my young self would do that!
I’ve seen bears when we visited the Smokie Mountains when I was young. We camped with our parents usually in June. I’ve killed a few rattle snakes. Usually got my heartbeat up. But, the scariest was when my brothers and I were chased by a bull! We were heading back to the barn in a Jeep hooked to a trailer full of pine straw we had just raked for mother’s flower beds, when he came running at us from a little distance away. My older brother, Billy Joe, yelled and said we better hurry to the gate so he could jump out open it and go through and close it quickly. I was driving and our little brother, Rick Jay, was hanging on the rails in the trailer. If you can, picture us going across the pasture as fast as we could and one bumpy ride! I looked back once and Rick Jay looked like he was flapping in the wind! I was too scared to laugh then, but I did after we made it through the gate and my brother jumped out and closed it. We three were laughing and trying to catch our breath when my father asked were we okay. We were all grinning and Daddy started laughing saying Rick Jay was bobbing up and down so much he was afraid he would fall off! It was funny afterwards, but not so funny while it is happening! Whew! What a ride!
And yes, that is my brothers names! And yes, we live in the south! Heh. By the way, I enjoy Jeffrey’s stories and humor also!
Tracy, what a story! What in the world possessed that bull to come after you like that? Yikes! Thank goodness Billy Joe was there to help you to safety! (And I love your brothers’ names – yep, you’re from the south. LOL)
I’m also marveling that you’ve killed rattlesnakes. Dang!
(Jeff is great, isn’t he?)
I haven’t encountered any scary animals, but there are several insects that I don’t want in my home.
I don’t want ANY insects in my home. Thank goodness, my husband is fearless and understanding and will always quash them for me.
Just like the famous song, I don’t like spiders and snakes!
My list is longer than that, Teresa!
I haven’t seen a6 bear in the wild. We have coyotes here, but I am terrified of bats.
Bats have a bad rep, don’t they? Luckily, we’ve never had any in the house or even close by that I can recall. But they are beneficial. Recently, a local rehab had a big event releasing bats back into the wild. People brought lawn chairs to watch and made an evening of it. Even the news did a story on them.
I’d rather watch a concert. LOL.
The first time of many that bats were in our home, I was about 10 and we had gone to the drive-in to see the Birds (Hitchcock movie) only to come home and have a bat flying around. On an average we would get about 6 bats per year in the house (they were in the attic and basement). I become hysterical, if a bat is in the house I leave. I also don’t like birds flying around me. I researched bats thinking it would help alleviate the fear, but it didn’t. I know it’s psychological, but that doesn’t help either so I stay away from bats.
Oh, God love ya, karijean. Watching Birds at the age of 10 would truly be traumatic (I was older and was freaked out by that movie!!) – and then to come home to a bat. Yeesh! And 6 bats a year??? Whoa. No wonder you have a fear! I would, too.
On one of our 1st backpacking trips there was a bear across the trail that wouldn’t budge. We ended up stopping for the night after that. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night. Any noise scared me.
That would be scary for me, too, Kim. I wouldn’t sleep a wink. As much as I love hiking in nature, encountering wildlife who might think we’re intruding kind of ruins it for me.
Glad you stayed safe!
Please dont count me in with the book. I already have it. but living on the farm in the desert, there were a lot of critters that we learned either how to deal with or just plain stay away from. our bull, there were certain times. he was a teddy bear with us kids. he loved to be scratched on his forehead and between his eyes. but when a female came into heat or he smelled another bull, yup everyone stayed wayyyy back. many times the family went to a national park and we learned to stay away from bears etc. one time we were going to go camping. on the way over there, dad stopped and got himself some of his favorite sausage. that stuff was soo hot that he was the only one that ate it. while we were all sleeping, our dog, Lady started getting agitated. well mom held onto her. than we heard noises outside. and dad pops up and yells “my sausage” as he goes to go out and get his sausage, mom grabbed ahold of him. so I grabbed ahold of Lady for mom, because dad was fighting to get out of the tent. yes she had her hands full. mom had put all the food up into the trees. but dad wanted his sausage ready to cook in the morning so he left it in its bag on the picnic table. when it was morning mom let dad go. well as you may have guessed a bear had come into the camp ground and found dads sausage. I honestly cant say I felt for dad, because mom warned him, but dad was super stubborn. well dad followed the path of pieces of sausage with his five kids and Lady and grandpa (moms dad) behind him. yup just bits of pieces here and there. than we came to a spot where the bear had left the rest of it. wow even too hot for the bear. LOL he was so maddddddd will always remember that. oh and my grandfather who came along with us taped the whole finding of the missing sausage bit. grandpa was having way too much fun about this. LOL
Oh, that’s hilarious, Lori!! If a bear won’t eat the sausage – well, that tells you something, doesn’t it? Your dad must have had an iron stomach! LOL.
But that bear coming into your camp – with only a flimsy tent separating you and your family – would be a little too close for comfort for me.
Thanks for sharing both stories. And thanks for having read ARMED & MARVELOUS, too!
Eleven years ago while on a big family vacation in Colorado I had my one and only encounter with a wild bear. My husband, youngest sister, and I had stayed at the house we were renting with the babies while the rest of the family went somewhere one night. We heard noises outside and went to look and a huge bear was trying to get into the trash cans outside. He started hitting the house and the whole thing shook. It wasn’t a cabin, mind you, but a big two-story house. It scared us silly. He was massive. Thankfully he scavenged all he wanted and left before everyone else came home later.
Scary, Christy!! Hitting the house? He could so easily have barged through the door and found you! Yikes and double-yikes!
Considering that I am not around any ferocious animals, I am terrified around a vicious dog. This can happen and has happened!!
Oh, vicious dogs rank right up there with wild animals, Kathleen. Definitely. To this day, I’ll cross the street to avoid another dog (while walking my own), even if the dog is leashed.
I had an incident where a lady down the street was walking three Labs, all on leashes. But when I was walking our daughter’s dog across the street from them, those three dogs lunged toward us, their combined strength too much for the lady. She fell trying to control them, and they literally dragged her, belly down, across the street. It’s a wonder she managed to keep hold of the leashes, and once those dogs reached us, she managed to scramble to her feet and control them. But all that barking and yelling brought another neighbor out of his house to see what the ruckus was. That was scary – if the dogs had been pit bulls or another vicious breed, the story would have had a much different ending.
Scary, scary.
We had a stray cat to come into our yard acting very odd. I think it was rabid or close to it and we called animal control to come get it.
I don’t like roaches, spiders, or mice. They give me the creepy crawlies!
Oh, yes, mice!! Such little creatures and pretty much harmless, but I HATE them. They come in from the tiniest openings and leave their droppings everywhere. Ugh!
They ravaged my tomato plants last year, and when we came home from our trip to the Holy Land last November, my husband trapped four of them. I guess a quiet house for 15 days was a huge invitation for them to come in and party while we were gone.
Good for you for calling animal control on that stray cat. Smart thinking.
I haven’t seen a bear in the wild. I don’t mind wild animals, or domestic ones. I can’t stand roaches, though!! And spiders are a close second!
I’m not even sure I’d know a roach if I saw one, so I’m pretty sure we haven’t had any (an unfamiliar crawling bug, I mean.) But it sounds like the littlest creatures are scarier for you than the big ones. 🙂
Thx for sharing, Trudy!
I have seen bears in Cade’s Cove 7 miles from Townsend, TN. We were already aware to not approach them, especially if they had cubs. They were very protective of their off spring. My husband attempted to go nearer but I kept whispering to him to get back. There was a man there also who approached the bear to take it’s picture. No one told him to keep back. ( I guess his wife wasn’t with him on that trip.)
There is one specific creature I ABHOR and will not get anywhere around them, even with a piece of glass separating me and it. That is a SNAKE!! I have read a book about some people lost on an island which had several pythons and, surprisingly, I read the entire book even imagining these creatures crawling over to a human to squeeze them to death. It makes the hair rise on my head and shivers go up my spine. Errrrrr!!
Oh, I’m with you, Judy!! Snakes are probably at the top of my list, too. I think it’s the way they move – several parts of their body at once. That slithery, quiet, sneaky movement as they skulk away or hide in the shadows all coiled up. And if they strike – so fast, you can’t even see it happen.
I am afraid of moose, elk, bears and wolves.
I hate yellow jackets.
I also fear sharks. I refuse to go into the ocean.
I do not like bats or spiders or snakes.
I’m amazed I like to hike.
I’m amazed, too, Laurie! I think you’ve just about covered any living creature you might encounter on a hike. Ha!
I think snakes are the animals I avoid. They can be scary. All kinds of worms freak me out. I will work with plants until I see a worm then I’m done. Something involving worms must have happened with me when I was younger for me to be so freaked out. I am not afraid of bugs, spiders , cockroaches, lizards, and other creatures but do not put a worm in my face.
Oh, Jackie. I get it! Worms to me are just tiny snakes. They move the same way and hide so they startle you when you dig up the earth. They’re harmless, and kids like to pick them up, and we won’t even talk about fishermen who use them for bait . . . but they gross me out.
I lived in WV as a young girl, so I remember seeing a few bears… all while I was in the car, never when I was playing/hiking in the woods, like I often did.
I’m your non-typical girl who loves snakes. My dad taught me how to safely catch them, how to tell a venomous from a non-venomous, & to not be afraid of them. They truly are incredible creatures!
My fear is wasps/bees!!! Anything that flies & stings, but especially wasps! It may be an irrational fear, but they terrify me. The same daddy who taught me to love snakes was also afraid of wasps/bees, but not as much as I am. It kinda runs in the family… he & his siblings caught snakes, frogs, crawdads, lizards, turtles, etc, & taught their children the same, but a bunch of us have a huge dislike for anything that flies & stings!! 😀
Isn’t that interesting, Lori! I admire you, your knowledge, and your courage about snakes! I am the exact opposite, but how wonderful that your dad made such an impression on you by teaching you not to be afraid – and that his one fear of wasps/bees transferred over to you. (Well, that’s not wonderful, per se – but an odd coincidence, I guess would be the better word.)
An odd coincidence that I’ll share with you – I’m almost 68 years old, and never in my life had I been stung by a bee. Ever. Until about 10 days ago, I was just walking across the lawn to our cabin at the lake, and a bee just out of nowhere zoomed in and stung me. Yow! And THEN . . . yesterday, I opened the door to a little Free Library in our neighborhood, and a bee whooshed out and stung me! So twice in 10 days after 68 years. Crazy.
But after the initial zap and sting, it was over. I guess my fear is lessened now that I know what a bee sting is like.
Thanks for stopping by, Lori!
Oh, my! Sorry for the stings! Your story backs up my theory (the theory that my dad taught me) 😉 that makes the fear of bees so much more rational than the fear of snakes. He always said if you see a snake, you can keep your distance & said snake can’t get you… but if you see a wasp & said wasp wants to sting you, you can’t get away. He can fly, & if he wants to get you, he’s gonna get you!! 😀 haha
So true! Your dad is a smart guy! Ha!
I’ve have black bears wandering thru my yard every year; in addition to the red fox; cougar; bobcat; fisher cat, racoons, etc. I know when I don’t see the rabbits and squirrels the fox is near.
I also crept up on a very large male deer in the woods once. I was so close I felt it’s breath when it turned; saw me and raised its front hoofs. Thought I was gonna be stomped on for a second, but he ran off. Was testing my Indian skills, but I won’t do that again! ;o)
Hi, Lynn! Well, I would say you’re pretty darned brave to get that close to a male deer, especially if he had antlers. And pretty darned lucky he didn’t stomp on you!!
Black bears in your yard every year, with other wild animals besides. Wow. I’m guessing you live on a mountain or in the country somewhere, but what a sight. You witness nature and wildlife more than most of us ever will. Pretty cool – if you’re safe!
Hi Pam!
Yes, the deer had antlers and I was lucky for sure.
I live in a very woodsy area in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. Love it there & really do enjoy nature and wildlife.
Your home sounds beautiful and rustic, Lynn!
I would not want to meet a grizzly bear either! Or a wolverine. Those animals are just pure mean.
I had to look up wolverine, Megan. It’s not an animal I’m very familiar with, and you’re right. They can be ferocious. They are part of the weasel family, but bigger and solitary. They are sometimes mistaken to be part of the bear family. Sounds like they tend to live more north, so for anyone hiking or living up there, be careful!
I have never met a grizzly bear in the wild. Thank goodness. I am afraid of scorpions and big spiders like those wolf spiders. EWWW. My sister had some of those in her house–they live out in an area that’s not really developed with a huge field behind their house. I just shiver to even think about those. Because they JUMP. And they travel in pairs.
This info about the grizzlies is really interesting!
Wolf spiders are a bit foreign to me, too, Cheryl, so I had to look them up. EWWWW is right. Oh, gosh, I’d have heart failure if I saw one.
According to my quick reading of facts, they don’t spin webs to catch prey, but they chase them. They are supposed to be really fast and live just about anywhere where they can feed on insects and other spiders.
Scorpions are also creepy! I’ve never seen one here in Nebraska, but I know they are plentiful more south. I watched a show where these guys made a living hunting scorpions at night because they invaded homes. What does THAT tell you besides EWWWW.
Thanks for stopping by, Cheryl!
Spiders are my nemesis, but after having to deal with them in the tropics for 3 years, I learned to call a truce. They were just too big to squash. I only killed one. It was blocking the door from my bedroom and when I tried to nudge it out of the way with an umbrella, it reared up on the back legs, fangs out dripping venom. It was toast.
As for bears, we have had several encounters. We had parked the car once to check something on the side of the road and left the passenger door open. A large female black bear came out of the woods checked out the car while we stood a couple hundred feet away wondering what we would do if it headed our way. There were no houses on the area. It finally crossed the road into the woods.
The big event was our son being attacked by a bear in our back yard. We were on vacation in CO and he let the dogs out one night. He heard them barking and they wouldn’t come in. They had slipped through the fence to the pasture behind the house. He did the same and headed for the barking. It was a moonless night so he couldn’t see much. When he finally came upon the dogs, they had a rather angry bear between them. He tried to call them off but they wouldn’t come. I’m not sure who threw the first punch, but my son hit the bear in the nose and the bear swiped at him catching his left arm. At that point he started running home, the dogs following him. He and they dove through the barbed wire fence and ran into the house. He never did go to the doctor despite our asking him to. The The Wildlife Officer that came to take the report and record the injury also encouraged him strongly to seek medical care. When we got home I discovered bloodied sheets and blanket plus an almost 3 foot wide blood stain on the mattress. It seems he did lose a bit of blood. He didn’t realize the damage done until a month or so when he was working in the forge. He could smell something cooking and looked down to see a red coal on his hand. There obviously was some nerve damage.
We are next to a bear preserve here in TN. Our daughter’s house, a mile away, is in the middle of the woods in the preserve. She and her neighbors have bears all the time. There have been 2 males and 3 females with cubs this spring. You just have to be very careful.
Wow, Pat! What great stories!
I have never heard of a spider rearing up on back legs nor dripping venom! Oh. My. Goodness. Thank your lucky stars who had that umbrella!!
My jaw dropped reading your son punched a bear in the nose!!! I think if the bear had been a little quicker, or your son a little slower, you’d be telling me a different story. I’m so glad he was spared (with the exception of the nerve damage.) He sounds like a tough kid!
Thanks for sharing, Pat!
Other than at the zoo I have seen bobcats near our home. I am actually freaked out by roaches. I had a bad experience with them as a child that left its mark on me.
Sympathies on the roaches experience. I hope you don’t see them often. Whatever happened sounds terrible and clearly traumatic. Hugs!
Thank you for sharing. Snakes. I do not like them. I think about the serpent in the book of Genesis. When I was a teenager, I was in West Virginia with my uncle and aunt. I was helping by cutting the grass. There was a snake. I yelled. My uncle came over, laughed at me and said, “This is all you have to do” as he ran the lawnmower over the snake. It ended up being a gardner snake. I did not care. God bless you.
Hi, Debra! Garter snakes are supposed to be good for your yard, but I’ve had two of them slither into mine from my neighbor’s house. She’s been plagued by five of them in assorted sizes on her front entrance way. The two garter snakes left their skins in my yard, which was a little creepy, too. And yep, your uncle took care of business the same way alot of people do, I suspect.
Thanks for stopping by, as always!
A couple of summers ago we had a momma fox and five of her babies living under our shed in our backyard on our land. It was fun watching them daily as they would play and run around. We have lots of woods around us and the mother would get them to follow out into the woods to take them out looking for food. The neighbors behind us live on many acres and have horses and various other animals. They also had a chicken coop, when the mother caught on to this many chickens became food for them. After a couple of months when they started to get bigger the all finally moved on. When we looked under the shed after they were gone many feathers and bones were found. I felt bad for the chickens but I also missed them all when they were gone!
Fun story, Teresa. The cycle of nature, right?. Momma has to feed her babies, but I have sympathies for your neighbor who lost so many chickens!