creepy crawly yucky

Have I mentioned my many many many issues with living in Texas? Sure, it's always hot, and no one can drive well or at least legally. But have I mentioned the........ SPIDERS the size of your hand? Or the SNAKES that like our driveway? Let me explain.

 A couple of weeks ago the hub found a snake sneaking up our driveway, so he promptly killed it with a shovel. We figured it was a one-time thing, you know? Well, later we went walking to the park, and our neighbor showed us a glue board he had stashed in his garage. There was a snake trapped on it. Our neighbor said that snakes like to get in on the sides of the garage door so he uses rat glue traps to get the sneaky snakes that make it in. The hub and I decided that we should put a couple out too. Just in case. 

Two days ago Britton and I were leaving the house through the garage to go to the park. I got her into her wagon, and we were pulling out of the garage when I noticed a snake curled up next to the garage door edge. It wasn't in a glue trap, it was just sunning itself next to the door.  Not wanting to freak out Britton, I told her we had a quick pit stop before our walk, and went to my next-door neighbor's house. He wasn't home, and neither was the next neighbor. On our third stop we finally found someone at home! I explained that the hub was out of town and I don't deal with snakes well and I just needed someone to make it go away. They came over but the snake was already gone and we couldn't find it. We searched and searched but there was no sign of it. So I thanked them for their help, and Britton and I went on our walk. She asked where the snake was and I told her he left. She then said, "He went home to his family. To eat dinner." Already emotional from the snake fiasco, her explanation made me almost cry!

 Well, I tried to forget about the whole thing, but I couldn't so I spent the night researching how to get rid of snakes. I went to Lowe's the next morning (out the front door, not the garage) and bought new glue traps and mothballs (snakes hate the smell apparently), and when I got home I went to put them all out. Except, I saw this...

And these....

I freaked out. Just lost it. I could in no way deal with a snake and two huge spiders. Even writing this makes my skin crawl. Eventually I went out to see if the snake was still alive. I didn't want to kill it, I really didn't, because snakes are fine if they just leave me alone. And you can release them from the traps by pouring vegetable oil on the snake to dissolve the glue (of course, taking the trap and snake far far far away from your house first).  But really, that snake was kind of flat and if not dead it was close to it. So in the trash it went. The spiders too. Then the trash cans went to the curb. Now I have 100 glue traps all over the garage and it stinks like an old attic in there from the mothballs!

 Sadie got a crown for not attempting to "play" with the used glue boards.