“Oh my God, oh my God, this is not real.”
One afternoon, South Carolina resident Andrea Dick was sweeping leaves off her deck as part of her yard duties. She had just finished working and gotten some coffee before sitting down outside for a brief break when she realized she wasn’t alone.
Dick told us, “At first, I thought, ‘Oh my GOD, oh my GOD, this is not real,’ but I soon realized it was true.
Six really enormous snakes were lying around in the middle of the deck.
Dick had previously observed snakes in and around her yard, but never in such a large gathering. As they were heaped on top of one another, Dick’s initial, automatic response was to hurl something close to them in an effort to frighten them away. Some of them fled quickly, showing that it had some effect, but the majority remained unconcerned. Dick took a few pictures of the snake party that was taking place on her deck so that she would have visual evidence because she wasn’t sure if anyone would believe her crazy story.
Because if I didn’t draw a picture, everyone would assume that I was making up the story, said Dick.
Dick hurriedly escaped the snake party that she had never consented to host after taking the pictures. Later, she uploaded the pictures online, and it didn’t take long for them to go viral. It appeared that most people felt similarly about the spontaneous snake gathering.
Two of the comments on Dick’s post were “I am NEVER GOING OUTSIDE AGAIN” and “My house would have a For Sale sign in front by now,” but many other people chimed in to reassure her that the snakes were completely harmless and actually great to have around.
It’s preferable to leave nonvenomous snakes alone if you come across them in your own garden and they aren’t harassing people or congregating in an inappropriate location. If you have a strong phobia of snakes and want to prevent the possibility of snake families moving into your yard, you can make your property less appealing by making sure there are no areas where a snake might want to hide, such as piles of rocks, wood, or other debris, tall grass and undergrowth, cracks around concrete porches and sidewalks, or storage sheds with space under the floor.
While Dick is OK with having a few snakes around her yard here and there, she’s hoping they’ll take the hint and will refrain from throwing any more parties on her deck — at least, not while she’s around.
“I do a lot of photography, a lot of animals and landscapes, and I have to laugh that out of all the work I’ve done, this one has gone viral,” Dick said.
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