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Firefighters from the Oracle Fire Department were able to capture and relocate this huge rattlesnake. (Sigrid Settle photos)
By Sigrid Settle
Special to the Crier
With the breath of warmer air blowing across Oracle, I found myself on my daily walk with the dogs, looking at the green leaves bursting forth on the trees, the prickly pear cactus opening their buds to show bright yellow flowers that had been waiting for the warm air to release them from their cocoons and hummingbirds flitting about seeming joyous as to the smells that emanated from the awakening foliage. The daily walks started becoming a ritual of almost reverent anticipation discovering each new event that unfolded before me and filling me with an overwhelming feeling of joy.
And so it was the other afternoon, I was awaiting the arrival of my nephew and his friend from Okinawa, Japan, reminiscing in my mind how beautiful the environment around me had become, as I opened the chicken coop to give my ever-optimistic chicken, who yearly tries to hatch unfertilized eggs, an afternoon feed of scratch and lay crumble only to find another sign of the warmer weather, a gigantic rattlesnake nestled securely in one of the chicken boxes. It was difficult to tell exactly how long this visitor was as he was tightly coiled in that box taking a nap and not interested in moving out of its cool, shady location. I didn’t check my chicken to see if she had been injected with a fatal dose of venom as the rattlesnake was only one foot from her nesting box.
As the men arrived from the Oracle Fire Department and pulled the rattlesnake out of the chicken coop, they commented that it looked as if it has just had a meal. Its belly didn’t look extended enough to hold a chicken, but I continued worrying about her until I saw her head pocking out of her box as if wondering what the commotion had been just minutes before. The men put the white plastic container, with the rattlesnake, in their truck and graciously gave me a ride up to the gate so I could let them out of my property. Somehow, riding in the fire truck I became a small child again feeling excited and joy returning to my very being.
A great way to feel joy is to connect with Nature. But another way is to have a ride in a fire truck.
And so it goes at the ranch…
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