Last week, my daughter saw a snake headed for the hedges at the corner of our house. Yes, I admit it. My husband had been after me for quite awhile to trim those hedges and all the others gracing our wood-filled property near our home. He wanted us to be safe because "the snakes might hide there". He felt like we would be more secure if we could at least see under the hedges if a snake should slither there for safety.
Knowing he had a valid point, I still just couldn't force myself to get off the wallet and invest in a good hedge trimmer. I felt I was actually energetic and dedicated enough to handle it with the worn-out manual hedge clippers we owned. I was sure I didn't need yet another item that would be thrown into the tool shed and forgotten. Besides, the snakes weren't really all that bad... right? (Ok, one snake bite would prove me wrong, but I still just couldn't get the motivation going.)
Taking Country Life for Granted
Never mind that we usually had poisonous snakes in our yard every spring and summer. The fear of my daughter coming across one should have been enough motivation for me to buy the hedge trimmer and get myself in gear for trimming. However, as a child of the country life, I had survived life in wooded areas. People who live in the country sometimes just seem to accept snakes as part of the surroundings. I suppose it was the old “out of sight, out of mind” philosophy. No one I had ever known had actually been struck by one, so I took it for granted that it wasn't that much of a threat.
Are You Putting Your Child in More Danger of Snake Bites?
I can remember being a small child and coming across a few snakes on our home property as I grew and learned. There was always a trusty adult to run to for help. So when my daughter came running in the house yelling about a snake in the hedges, it did bring back a few memories. It also struck fear, the motivation that I needed that my child could have been seriously injured and not been able to reach me.
I went out with her to search for the snake, fearing not for my own safety but for the fact that if that snake were still in the hedges it could very well sneak out and get her later. I had to know. It's strange how I suddenly realized that I had put my child in danger when I had known all along that she could have been in danger of this very threat--a snake hiding in the hedges. The feeling just kind of hit me like a lightning bolt. Other mothers should be able to relate to what I'm referring. It's a sickening feeling.
Well, this mother suddenly realized. The guilt came crashing down upon me that my child could have been struck by a poisonous snake. The many times that I had survived a snake encounter because it was just "part of growing up in the country" were now irrelevant. This was right now, today... and this was my daughter's safety. Finally, the cloud lifted from my brain.
The snake had disappeared from the hedges by the time I found a garden hoe, so my mind was unable to rest until I could go to the store and buy the hedge trimmers. My daughter stayed inside the rest of the day. We went shopping the next day and came home in triumph with our new electric tool. We beat the hedges again to make sure there would be no surprises. Then we both went to work trimming and clearing debris. I felt like a suburbanite when we were done. My hedges no longer had that wild country look to them. They were neatly trimmed and actually looked so much better!
Safe at Last
The snake did reappear that week. It poised smack in the middle of our driveway as though waiting for me so it could taunt me by its presence! I saw it as I turned into the drive after a trip to town. My son played the hero and killed it for us. The snake was quite aggressive, and I was thankful that it would strike fear within our hearts no longer.
Besides being used for a safety measure, the hedge trimmer actually proved fun to operate. I went to work on the other hedges near our home as well. Now I have to wonder why I put off investing in this handy little tool for so long! The hedge trimmer is fun to operate, and now we can see clearly under the hedges.
