You Didn’t Tell Me About The Snakes!
Oh boy. Why must there always be a catch? There always is… My two readers know that I have been writing a lot about my beginning experiences with fly fishing. I post pictures of the small fish that I catch, and I’ve always got a big grin on my face no matter how little they are. It’s Memorial Day weekend, so Saturday my brother and I headed to the lake for a couple hours of fishing. I used my fly rod, and he used the conventional spinning reel. Everything was going fine, and we were enjoying the peaceful serenity of the lake, when suddenly I heard my brother yell, “YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ABOUT THE SNAKES!!!”
A very aggressive black snake came out of the weeds at the waters edge and darted at him and then sped across his feet and back into the water. I am SO glad it did NOT bite him. What if it was one of these?
A water moccasin. Venomous. Aggressive. Will approach “intruders”. Crap.
I hate snakes. I’m going back to the lake, but I’ll be sporting blue jeans instead of shorts, and I’m going to Bass Pro Shop to buy a knife. I talked to an avid fisherman today who is dating my wife’s cousin, and he said to always have a knife on you.
“Why?” I asked.
He said, “You have to make sure you can kill the snake if it bites you, because you have to take it with you to the emergency room so they know which kind of anti-venom to give you.”
Wow. I have a new-found respect for Florida fisherman. They risk getting bit by snakes of all kinds, sharks, and whatever else is out there, just to experience the joy of their hobby. A couple days ago I just noticed a brown recluse spider crawling close to my foot while I was out fishing. I have been bit by one before. That’s not fun, but it’s a story for another time. I’m not even going to post a picture of one of those wounds because you might lose your lunch. I’ll leave it up to you to search for it if you really want to see it.
Back to the conversation with this avid fisherman though. He started telling me about his experiences fishing on his boat. He had stories about sharks, they all do. That should tell you something. But he also had a snake story. He told me about a sea snake that came at his boat and TRIED TO GET IN TO BITE HIM. He had to beat it down with an OAR! Wow that is straight out of a bad dream. I’m getting a knife.
Oh by the way, remember those other reptiles in Florida that live on the water?
I’m getting a knife.
Comments from old site:
Written by Chad Kraus
Posted: Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 3:56 PM
HAHA! I remember that knife. That was a BIG knife!
Written by Chris
Posted: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 3:49 PM
Hey Chad, I think it was you who asked me what kind of knife to get. I assked what are you using it for and you said fighting crocodile. At the time I said a bowie knife, but now that I think about it… do you remember that knife pic I showed you the last time you were looking for a knife? If not, I think I still have it on my computer somewhere.
Written by Lisa P
Posted: Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 6:37 PM
Hey Chad! It was great to see you guys this weekend. Aaron happened to show me this website when we were comparing laptops at the hotel. Think I’ll add it to my “favorites”! We have a cute website for Nathan - next time we’re on skype I’ll give you the address.
Written by Aaron
Posted: Monday, May 28, 2007 at 8:02 AM
Whoa, can’t wait to see what kind of knife you get. Just don’t bring it to the airport on Thursday. And if you feel unsafe without it, I’ve got plenty of knives you can carry with you while you’re here 