River Snake Stories

Yesterday I showed my sister-in-law the snake stories. She liked that they were on a blog so that she can read them on her smart phone where ever she is to the kids.

One time before the kids were born, they were camping on an island in the Mississippi River. Up near Trempealeau, Wisconsin you can boat up the Mississippi River and camp on what ever island you want. (You can also do that on the Wisconsin River near Arena.)

Her and her mom went to the woods to go to the bathroom and were walking back to the food tent. They didn't have the flashlight on as you could see where you were going, when they heard a really loud buzzing/whirring sound like a giant cicada.

Her mom said, I want to turn on the flashlight.

It's just a big bug. We don't need the flashlight.

Turn it on.

They turned on the flashlight and there was a rattlesnake. Her mom froze. My sister-in-law ran around to the back of the tent.

Help, come quick. A rattlesnake.

Mom was froze. She couldn't move.

Here Dad and brother-in-law came with a big log and took care of the snake.

----------

A story from my niece.

While boating on the Mississippi River you have to make sure that what you see in the water is really a turtle and not a moccasin snake. One time her and her sister and brother were on an island getting ready to get in the boat. They saw a moccasin snake swimming in the water, so when they got in the boat they didn't go in the water. Just went right from the dry land into the boat.

---------------

Over 30 years ago, Jer and I went rafting down the Ichetucknee River in Florida with his friend Val. It's a spring fed, very clear river in central Florida. Since it's spring fed it's cold enough that alligators supposedly don't go in there. We didn't see any alligators. Alligators tend to live in or near most ponds, canals, and rivers in Florida. My husband jokes, "That's why there are so many 3-legged dogs running around here." I was surprised that they didn't provide life jackets because in Wisconsin they are very strict about life jackets. Even back then. Anyway we were swimming in the river, had just got back into the raft when a moccasin snake came swimming by. They swim real good. We pulled our hands and feet into the raft. After that we didn't get out of the raft.