Old-time drink switchel recalls early days spent cutting hay on the farm

Union Leader ^ | August 3 2002 | STACEY COLE

[2Trievers]

What an INCREDIBLE stroy! I'm glad you're still around to talk about it! The only coppers I see have usuauly turned tail and are retreating ... as am I! &;-)

[2Trievers]

stroy = story; usuauly = usually

The mental image of those dripping fangs, almost did me in ... YIKES! &;-)

[sawsalimb]

I have a deal with venomous snakes-if I see them,I run,lol.

[2Trievers]

I happen to LOVE snakes ... and often they don't stick around long enough for me to observe them. Venomous ones though, are another story ... especially if you are on a trail a long way from civilization. &;-)

[tacticalogic]

The mental image of those dripping fangs, almost did me in ... YIKES! &;-)

It was one of those rare moments when time seems to stop, and a single image gets burned into your brain forever. Fortunately, that was years ago. I was 17, and had the reflexes that go with it.

[2Trievers]

And those are the BEST "ghost" stories told around a campfire with friends! &;-)

[tacticalogic]

Shudder!

[sawsalimb]

I still remember the evening I came home and there was a fair sized rattlesnake on the top step of the back porck. I now imagine it was enjoying the heat from the steps,but at the time it was pretty disconcerting. The hard part was getting the snake off the steps so I could go in the house,get the shotgun,and do in the snake. Kind of a shame,because I really didn't have anything against the snake,but I didn't want it hanging around the house.

[2Trievers]

I understand and "relocation" becomes problematic if you don't know what you're doing.

"Here Honey ... you hold the pillowcase and I'll hold the broomhandle." &;-)

[LibWhacker]

[LibWhacker]

Oops, I'm sorry. I didn't know that pic was 340Kb.

[2Trievers]

It's Kewl ... and don't sweat it! I'm PAID UP with my dues around here anyway! LOL &;-)

[Inge_CAV]

"The most vivid memory I have of putting up hay involves a large copperhead stuck in a haybale. I've never been able to throw a bale that far again."

That is similar to a true story I was told by a local farmer. He had bought a mechanical bale thrower that attached to the side of a truck bed. It would pickup and throw bales of hay onto the bed of a flat bed truck. This eliminated one of the hardest jobs of hay season. Anyway to make a long story short on this day there were three men on the truck bed stacking hay as the bale thrower deposited the bales amongst them. The truck driver said I knew there was something wrong because I had never heard a hay bale buzz like that before. But it was too late to stop the truck and the bale was thrown up onto the bales already stacked. The men stacking the hay knew instantly what the sound of the singing bale was caused by and immediately abandoned the moving truck. Somehow a rattlesnake had crawled inside a hay bale and was upset by the trill ride of the bale thrower. This story is still funny even though it happened forty years ago, One singing rattler in a bale goes up and three grown men bale off........... : )

Wanted to tell this story this morning but didn't have time. : )

[Inge_CAV]

"I'm laughing ... but it ISN'T funny! What's a copperhead doing in a field. I thought they were pretty much woodland creatures."

I have already seen one whopper this year while mowing hay. My guess is that he was three feet and may have been a little longer. His head was large and his body was stocky. There was no doubt this was a poisonous snake. This time he got away but I will look for him next year. : )

[backhoe]

That's a good story... we have rattlers, copperheads, coral snakes, and water moccasins ( cottonmouths ) down here. I've killed many a one in my folks beachfront yard in the summer, including a 6-foot rattler my Dad had stepped on ( and jumped- my, did he jump!- over... )while the critter was napping on the brick floor of the front porch.

Iced tea is the beverage of choice for "guys who sweat a lot"-- lots of sugar, and so strong you can see it raise its dukes when you pour it...

[2Trievers]

Great story CAVster ... and glad you are back from the fields safe! &;-) Was it HOT out there?

[2Trievers]

Hey JR ... good to see you FRiend ... sorry I didn't ping you earlier! &;-) Hugs, 2T

[Inge_CAV]

"Iced tea is the beverage of choice for "guys who sweat a lot"-- lots of sugar, and so strong you can see it raise its dukes when you pour it..."

Now that is "Iced Tea" the way I like it. : )

[Inge_CAV]

"Great story CAVster ... and glad you are back from the fields safe! &;-) Was it HOT out there?"

How hot was it out there?

Why it was so hot that my hens are laying scrambled eggs.......... : )