Lucy and Ethel relocate the rattlesnake

(Not Miss Lucy, the other Lucy ~ the one who does stupid stuff when her friend Ethel comes to visit.) 

The adventure started early Saturday morning when I went out to the garden to water the shriveling, waste-of-money plants 

that I insist on planting even when I know darned well they won't survive the New Mexico sun and/or my bad water.

Anyway, I was watering the pot in the foreground of the picture below when I spied something move down at my feet. 

A rattlesnake was trying to catch a nap in the shade until I came along and woke him up. Whoops. 

Right then and there I knew it was time to thin out the wild sunflowers that were overtaking the garden. 

But first I had to catch the snake and relocate it, and by the time I went to get the snake pole and the snake can, 

he was gone. Oh well. It still seemed like a good time to weed the garden, and Ethel said, "I'll help," and who was I to argue with that?

We hadn't pulled more than a handful of sunflowers when I heard Ethel calmly say, "There he is." 

Me: Who?

Ethel: The snake.

Me: Really? Where? 

Ethel: There.

Me: Where?

Ethel: THERE.

Me: WHERE?

Ethel: THERE!!

I still couldn't see it. Then Ethel pulled back the sunflowers and I finally did see him, all coiled up in the shade. 

I asked Ethel to stand there and not take her eyes off him while I went to get the snake pole and whatever else I would need my camera.

I lassoed him and Ethel took a picture, but that wasn't a suitable souvenir 

to take back to the folks in Ohio, so we switched.

In the picture above, Ethel was just acting scared for the camera. 

I missed the picture when the snake started wiggling and she got scared for real.

We switched places again and I released the snake into the blue container you see above. He immediately crawled out. 

So I re-roped him and put him in the ash/trash can.

Then we strapped the can into the back of the Ranger and drove him down the road 

to release him far, far away from the ranch.

Rattlesnakes in trash cans make me smile. I can't help it.

I removed the lid, took a few pictures for posterity...

...then dumped out the ashes and the snake...

...while Ethel waved good-bye to her new friend from the safety of the front seat.

Ethel: Aaack! He's coming for us. Step on it!