Dirty job – but had to be done

Anemone nemorosa

Marvelous Easter weather, all sunny and warm with some 20 degrees. Time to put on shorts and sandals and watch how the nature is waking up. Beautiful!

However, there was one evil disturbing our long weekend in our paradise – a nest of snakes under our patio. 

On Sunday morning, when I went out to hang some laundry, I heard a rustle of leaves on our patio, and saw an amazing view: two large black and white zigzag-patterned vipers (Vipera berus, a venomous snake), intertwined, raising from the leaves. They were mating. Vow!

I ran inside to get my camera and tell JD. When I came back they were still there, lying, so that I got some pictures. JD came with two spades as weapons. We have not seen vipers in our yard close to the house so far, but our principle is that any snake coming into the house or the patio will be killed. We have four small kids in the family and don’t want any poisonous creatures hanging around!

So JD hit the bigger snake with the spade and nailed it, then I kept the spade steady, so that he could cut the head of the snake with the other spade. We saw one tail disappearing, and thought that the other snake escaped. After the dirty work we buried the snake and went inside. I googled vipers and learned that the female can be up to 80 cm and male 60 cm. The snake we killed (first) was 80 cm and so a female.

I went out again, to hang the laundry, and noticed that the other viper had returned on the patio.  I run quickly inside to tell JD, and pick my camera again. The spades were close by, and we got the male killed as well. This time I had to cut the head while JD was holding it with a spade. It was not nice, I can tell, but I felt that it is better than have 20 young little snakes around next summer from this couple. So, two vipers buried the same day.

We were so exhausted from the sun, garden work and battle with snakes that we didn’t want to cook anything. JD fetched pizzas from Taalintehdas, restaurant Portside. They make the best pizzas on the island.

Next morning, I said as a joke to JD that I go out to see some snakes. That said, I took three steps outside and saw a viper, again, on the patio. My eyes are so used to scanning these creatures that I see them all.

This was smaller than the previous two and brownish. While we were killing this one, I saw a big black snake lying a couple of meters away from us. The smaller one was a male and the big one, again some 80 cm, must have been the female, lying there after mating. We nailed that one, too. It was hissing. Disgusting, yäk!

So, there was a nest of vipers under the patio. We killed four of them, and probably some of them managed to escape, or are still there, enjoying the lizards and mice that also like to stay there. It will be an exciting summer ahead.