On the journey home from an al fresco lunch to celebrate the Fourth of July with a group of like-minded friends, the theme music to the film Stand By Me was playing.
Meredith often mentions this rite of passage movie about four boys setting out on an adventure that will change their lives ; it reminds her of her childhood growing up in Northfield, a northern suburb of Chicago.
In the Hollywood film, four young boys find a dead body–which propels the story.
Animal lover who drew the line at rattlers!
In the car yesterday, the music reminded her of the day she and her three young friends (all boys and she was an enthusiastic tomboy) suddenly found themselves confronting an aggressive rattlesnake in a vacant lot.
A rattlesnake?
Yes, a rattlesnake!
But you lived in suburban Chicago!
I remembered my Dad telling me about seeing rattlers in Arizona when he was there in ’44, training to be an RAF fighter pilot.
Arizona: dry, arid, hot, rattlesnake country for sure!
Chicago: cold, windy, wet, rattlesnake country?
Our property backed onto farmland in those days.
What did you do?
We squealed, reeled backwards and ran for a Dad–but there were no Dads to be had at home that afternoon.
By the time we got back armed with a rake and a hoe, the snake would have high-tailed outta Cook County –if it’d had any sense! I don’t remember ever playing around that piece of prairie again!
Soon after we arrived home last night, I went out to pick up the post from the box.
On the ground a couple of feet away from me, stretching itself full length across the driveway–was a snake.
Not a rattler–lucky for me–a western whip snake or couleuvre, a non poisonous snake that eats small rodents.
Clearly it had HEARD IT ON THE SNAKEVINE and decided to make contact.
Robin Ellis 
good story!
We had rattle snakes here in W. Michigan.. they liked woodpiles… I remember my Dad finding and killing one in our backyard… must have been about 1972
Your Dad was there!
We had copperheads where I grew up in the Hudson River Valley! Scared to death of snakes!
Try as I might snakes seem to find me.Our farm house on Wolfe Island in Lake Ontario gets garter snakes in the basement more often than I would like. I was so bothered by it when we moved in.Now it does not phase me at all.
Snakes were pretty prevalent in my two year stint as as a young teacher in Little Gombi Nigeria.I had to walk from my small house up a path to my makeshift classroom.There were often snakes on the path.I am pretty certain some were poisonous. I would get to the classroom,greet my 70 odd students and tell them of my encounter.They would laugh and say….miss it is just a snake! Dont worry and enjoy your life.Wise words brought on by snakes of all things.
We had rattlers in New York….I admit to liking snakes, but I have due respect for the poisonous varieties. Now living in Texas, we have coral snakes- even in civilized San Antonio. I rescued a ribbon snake from my crowd of feral yard-cats a few weeks ago. I know… I’m a nut-case.
Hate snakes especially here in Australia. Most are deadly and some are very aggressive.
Dear Robin & Meredith :
I always love reading about your little life adventures interspersed between your recipes . Happy 4th.
Just had a long Internet conversation with some friends being nostalgic about “Moms clothesline and sweet smelling sheets dried in the sun”. My response was I my love “Mom’s sheets” but being from San Antonio TX the problem was having to watch out not to step on scorpions, rattlers or copperhead snakes while hanging or bringing the wash.
:0) Norma
Dangerous place, Texas, Norma!
lol, heard it on the snakevine. UGH my son is now living in Arizona and after finding a scorpion hanging off his bedroom ceiling fan now has strict instructions from mother. I don’t care if he is a grown man, scorpion hunts at night, and no hiking in the summer will allow me to sleep at night.
Snake expectations – sounds like a serpunt to me ! K Az. Agr. Boggioli Loc. Boggioli 10 52022 Montegonzi (AR), Italia Tel: ++39 055 9166222 Fax: ++39 055 9668954 Cell: 333 4200843 http://www.boggioli.com
Had a snakey feeling you’d like it Keith!
Dear Robin & Meredith, Was it the one that got away in the kitchen ? What did you do with this one ? Did someone come to remove it ? I don’t like snakes but scorpions I have more fear for them, please be careful for the cats.It can be that cats catch them also.Hughs.
We had to shooBen away he was taking you much interest.
Please tell Meredith that I grew up in downstate Illinois and grew up knowing about “black racers” and “garden snakes.” I had to move out of state to learn that the rest of the world calls them “cottonmouths” and “garter snakes.” Also remind her that most of the snakes in Cook County Illinois hold political office 🙂
Out of curiosity….in what Chicago suburb/area did Meredith grow up? I still have many friends and family in the area, so can almost make sense of it!
She grew up in Northfield, Illinois–Cook County near Winnetka.
My former parents in law had a house with a stream in the back yard. My sons, ages 9 and 4 at that time, went to the other side of the stream with a 9 year old cousin and some other little friends. I was in side the house talking to my mother in law when all of a sudden we heard yelling and screaming. We rushed outside with my brother in law. We saw the boys hopping up and down pointing to the ground. There was copperhead in front of them blocking the path back to the house over the stream. My brother in law drove his car to other side of the stream to rescue the boys. 5 little boys came home very relieved!! There was none stop talking about their adventure…bravado included!
Great post…thanks for the smile!!
I am having problems posting Robin so excuse me if this is a repeat post.
My sons (ages 9 and 4 at the time) and some young cousins came across a snake when they were opposite their grand parents house. The boys were separated from the house by a stream. The boys turned to a path to walk over rocks to return to the house when they saw the snake blocking their path.
The boys started screaming. My brother in law and I rushed out of the house. The boys where pointing to the ground and hoping up and down yelling. Finally we made sense of what they were saying, “snake!! “. My brother in law drove to the spot on the other side of the stream where the boys were standing to rescue the them.
Back “home” the boys excitedly spoke about their adventure…bravado galore…not mentioning the fact they had been terrified. The snake was a copperhead and they were very much aware of this…reason for the hysterics.
“Heard it on the snakevine” – very clever! Lovely pic of young Meredith.
You should have caught him and cooked him up, Robin. …a lost opportunity.
Hi, Robin, it doesn’t matter what kind of a snake it is. It’s a snake and it bites and it’s dangerous not only to people but can be deadly to animals. Recently I’ve lost my beloved Saladin (a purebred Arabian stallion) to a local brown snake. To me it was a great loss as I’ve raised Saladin since he was 6 weeks old. In the State’s South East there’s also a Tiger snake. Its bite is usually fatal. I’ve a great fear of snakes…
Meredith, my dear, you haven’t changed at all over the years. The same laughing eyes and the beautiful smile are the same today. Lovely…
Sujet de Meredith, je suis tout(e?) a fait d’accord, Odette!
Meredith writing: Odette, so sorry to hear about Saladin!! How horrible for you and what a great sadness to lose a beloved horse. Arabians are so noble and beautiful too….And one you’d had reared. 😦 We have vipers here in France that are dangerous. A friend lost a dog that way. I hope our cats will leave this snake alone but it’s impossible to police their outdoor lives. (No NSA here!) Anyway, sincere condolences on the loss of Saladin….
Je suis enchantee, mon ami, donc vous etes tout a fait d’accord avec moi a ce sujet… Bonne santé a vous deux. Toujours avec bonne ambience… Odette
Thank you, Meredith, for your kind words. Saladin’s loss among many other losses was a very big blow to me. He was a true aristocrat of the equine world. I still have his son Neringa Darius whose manners are always impeccable. But he cannot replace his sire. Who says that Arabians are fierce and dangerous? They are wrong. To me there’s only a cruel human hand that handles them… My dear Meredith, let’s hope and pray that Beau and Ben will sense the great danger if ever they’ll come across a reptile. I’ll keep my fingers crossed… They are both just too beautiful and much loved to fall victims of a vicious snake.
A lovely little anecdote for a Monday morning. I also enjoyed the latest antics of Ben and Beau who look so grown-up and handsome now. The worst we have had here is mice. The other week my neighbours took down an old shed and the neigbourhood cats all started congregating for the event! Yes, as the shed came down the mice fled. Some moved to under my shed, I think, because during my morning stroll round the garden my Jimmy caught a small mouse. It was rather a sweet little thing although I am ashamed to say I failed to rescue it and was merely left to give it a decent burial later in the day.
Great snake stories. But as a naturalist I feel the need to remind you all that snakes have their place in our environment. Bull snakes kill a lot of the rats and mice around silos that would lower grain production. Garter snakes are harmless–they have a job to do, Just let them be. I was in Australia for a few weeks, and learned from a herpetologist that their are only 2 deaths per year on average to snake bite, Plenty of bites, often because people do foolish things–try to pick them up by the tail, step on them on walks, etc. Most of the step-on-em bites don’t involve venom. Aggressive? Only if you are threatening them. They don’t come looking for you. After not liking snakes up close for a long time, I had to feed and handle a corn snake as a naturalist. I gained a lot of respect for them. I don’t want them in my home or yard, but that doesn’t mean I need to kill every snake I see. Breathe and let them go their way. But keep sharing your stories! I’ve got a great garter snake story: as a 5 & 6 grade teacher in Iowa, I felt the need to put on a brave face to all the stuff that came in–wolf spider & tiger salamander(kept them in terrariums for the year), After lunch one day Clint, an overly enthusiastic science student stood at my back excitedly saying “Mrs. Peterson! Mrs. Peterson! Look, Mrs. Peterson!” As soon as I finished with another student, I turned to see what Clint was all excited about. He was holding up a garter snake about an inch from my nose. Breathe. “Wow, Clint! Where did you find that?” Meanwhile I was hoping my heart would start beating again soon. 😉
Hi Robin and Meredith
Here’s my rattlesnake story from the California foothills east of Sacramento. About 10 years ago, I arrived home. I got out of the car and went to the backseat door to get out some paperwork. From behind me I heard the very distinctive sound that rattlers make. Without hesitation or looking around I climbed into the backseat and shut the door. The snake was coiled about 8 feet away. I was thankful he gave a warning. Next I climbed into the front (this not being easy as I am a grown person) and into the driver’s set. I proceeded to drive back and forth over the snake, but he slithered away into the tall grass next to the drive. I’m sure he was mortally wounded. I was home alone at that time. I still like snakes, it’s mice and gophers I can’t stand.
I hate snakes, period. Just scared to death of them. Have a few around my grounds as I live next to a woods. I am so sorry to hear about the death of the beautiful Arabian horse Saladin. So sad. My condolences to Odette.
Virginia from Delaware
Hi, Virginia,
in early July I’ve had a very “solid” reason to change my Provider from OPTUS to TELSTRA. At that time I also have noticed that all Robin’s Posts have failed to appear on my computer’s screen. And there was a new “social” Icon to which I haven’t paid the least attention until this morning. I regret very much to send you my belated thanks for your kind words of sympathy re my sad loss of Waveney Saladin.
You live near the woods and fear the local snakes. Our brown horrors love the dry, warm nooks and trive in our considerable summer heat. In winter they hide in the ground but we don’t see any snow here anyway.
Kindest regards, sincerely Odette, Buchfelde, South Australia
I just came across this article, and it reminded me of a snake encounter in
own backyard some years ago. Our teenage son, who seemed outwardly
fearless, was given the task of mowing the yard. One such afternoon, I
heard him start the mower. 15 minutes later, we heard a loud scream.
My first thought was that he was badly hurt somehow. Before I could run
out to the back forty, he ran into the kitchen visibly shaken and speechless.
He brought me to the patch he’d been cutting, and pointed to a small harmless garden snake, curious to see what the fuss was about.To this day I’m not sure who terrified who more!