A few weeks ago, I was up at the ranch minding my own business when I heard that familiar, strange sound of those cranes flying over, migrating toward the south. I figure in a few short weeks I’ll have the pleasure of listening to the geese beginning their trek down here, too. I enjoying hearing the geese talk to each other.

When I go to the ranch I climb in my truck and leave town. I don’t have to talk to anybody, answer questions for anybody or even see another human being once I hit our property. Life becomes total silence. If I want to talk, my conversation is always one sided, unless me and the Good Lord are having a heart-to-heart, and then sometimes he gives me answers in that still small voice. Otherwise my bull, cows or donkeys simply listen without responding.

Well, that’s not totally true. They do respond, but their response is simply turning tail and walking away!

Another reason I know winter is on the way is because the snakes were steadily moving. I can’t stand snakes. I don’t like them, I don’t care for them and the older I get, the more afraid I become of them.

About two weeks ago, I started hooking up the bucket to my front end loader on my tractor and when I lifted the bucket, a long red snake came rushing out from below it’s resting place. It scared me to death and before I could grab anything to hit it with, it rushed away. The next thing I know is I was minding my own business and noticed movement about ten feet behind me next to the slab of the garage. I immediately recognized the fact that this was not a friendly kind of snake!

It was a water moccasin and he was looking for cover. I ran to the truck and grabbed my pistol. It was making its way around the corner still running parallel to the slab of the garage. I knew I could not take a shot from my position because I was facing the garage and that would have meant shooting into a concrete backstop, so I repositioned myself. Have you ever tried to place a shot with a pistol from ten feet away into a one inch wide target? It’s tough but I hit the mark!

The problem was, however, that the damage I did was not deadly and he then quickly found a hole in the old wood wall of the garage and climbed inside. I kinda thought he was going to hide between the two walls, but he made his way into the well shed and out of my sight. I was then worried about having this wounded, mad water moccasin running around the place because a water moccasin can become a very, very aggressive snake. They stink, too. They give off an odor very similar to a skunk.

I walked through the garage and slowly eased open the door of the well house and there in the darkened room I saw him lying in the middle of the concrete floor. I picked up a ten foot 2-by-4 and jabbed it into him as hard as I could. Unfortunately, this thing still slithered off and got away from me. Now I’m walking around the garage on egg shells.

Two days later other family members killed a rattlesnake just a few feet away from my first ordeal. Ever since then I have become more cautious just waiting on our first good freeze to put these guys into their winter’s slumber.

Another way I know winter is on the way is because the turtles are becoming very aggressive, too! My granddaughter and I went fishing last Saturday and I had placed our catch on a stringer and set them at my feet in the water. After about ten minutes I decided to check the stringer, and when I pulled the fish out of the water, all I had left were half fish! The turtles had come within three feet of us fishing and methodically began feasting in preparation for their winter’s bliss.

The theft of our catch aggravated me, so I set a treble hook on my line and took one of the half eaten fish and set my line on the bottom. After about three minutes I saw that long slow pull on my line and I knew the turtle had taken the bait. I set the hook and enjoyed the thrill of reeling in a nice sized turtle. I pulled the turtle out of the water with hook still intact and placed the rod, turtle and all, about ten feet away from the water and grabbed my spare rod.

As my granddaughter and I continued fishing, much to our amazement, we suddenly saw the turtle making headways back into the water with rod, reel, line, hook and sinker all in tow! I jumped and grabbed the rig just as it was entering the water.

To give my granddaughter a fisherman’s thrill, I then took the rod and released the drag and let the turtle head back into open water. After I knew several yards of line were free, I told her to start reeling him in. It was her fist experience of catching something that could really give her a good tug. She loves fishing and has caught a lot of fish, but this was her first “big one.” Together we fished for almost three hours and I never heard a complaint.

Yes, wintertime is on the way. The animals have told me so. There’s also frost on the roof this morning.

Clifford

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