The Snake In The Cupboard

According to the Blog Masters, those wizened, experienced, and fatherly (or motherly) Professor Dumbledors of the blogosphere, the best posts are either informative or tell the reader how to do something. For the life of me, I don't have the faintest idea how that's going to work this morning, but we'll give it a try.

Now, let's see, informative. Okay, how's this? There are no poisonous snakes in Maine. Inquiring minds want to know, and now you do. Isn't this what you've always wondered about? That one absolutely vital piece of geographical trivia that will make you an instant hit at your next cocktail party? I've never tried it myself, but if I'm ever approached by a young lady who asks demurely, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about snakes, would you?", I'll be prepared.

On a more realistic note, it was definitely something that came in handy last night when I became suddenly aware that the cat was on hyper-alert. Whipping his tale back and forth, he stared intently at a sliver of space beneath the door that opens into a knee wall cupboard. I looked up from my book just as the first four inches of a green slithering something slid silently through the space, raised its head, looked around and found itself face to face with...the cat!

I've never seen a snake move so fast in my life. Back into the cupboard before I could move and the cat could strike, leaving both of us looking at each other as if to say, "That was cool." So, I put on gloves, got out the flashlight, cautiously opened the door, and naturally, there was no snake. However it had gotten in, it beat a fast retreat the same way.

"Well, at least it wasn't poisonous," I said to my feline cohort, who insisted on peering into the cupboard, just in case my glasses need replacing. I closed the door, sealed up the crack (this is the "how-to" part) with a strip of every man's best friend -- duct
tape -- and we're calling this case closed, for now. I can't help but wonder, though, what the conversation will be like when the snake gets home. It has to go something like, "Well, thankfully, there aren't any poisonous humans in Maine. The cat on the other hand..."


(Photo by the author)