Thursday, May 01, 2008

Uncle Jeremy (or Captain)

After leaving my sister, we headed to my baby brother's house (he's 29, not technically a baby but it helps to keep him in his place). He and his wife, Wibke, took us to see the horses that she trains and the Ranger camp where he is an instructor. After looking through the pictures I realized I didn't get a single picture of Wibke and felt terrible.
The boys are sitting on their Aunt Wibke's saddle and that's a riding crop in Jonathan's hand. I just thought this was a super cute picture of Jonathan. He was proud of himself after climbing into that chair.
While at the Ranger camp we went and looked at their collection of snakes and alligators. Sgt. Brown was our personal snake handler. Here's one of the conversations:
Sgt.: This is a slightly venomous snake. Here Andrew, do you want to hold it?
Me: Should he be holding a venomous snake?
Sgt.: This snake doesn't strike...
Bam...the snake that doesn't strike just struck Andrew in the chest. Andrew immediately drops the snake and runs for his dear life (me too, with Jonathan in tow).
Sgt.:What I meant to say is, his initial strike is closed mouth as a defense mechanism.
Good information just a bit too late. The snake pictured below is a harmless corn snake.
Andrew is not taking his chances with the baby alligator. He did pet it a little bit.
This is my brother showing us that if you tap on the nose, he will automatically pop open its mouth. Good tip. Note to self: don't tap the nose of an alligator in the wild unless you want to get eaten.
Yup, that's a sidewinder. Don't be fooled by the closeness of the picture, I'm at the other side of the room praying that snake doesn't decide to strike too.
Cpt. Jeremy is feeding Vincent, a 650 lb alligator (Stumpy is the other alligator pictured). He tapped Vincent's nose to get the mouth opened and chucked a dried piece of food in it.
This is a mold of the Ranger camps former mascot, Big John. At this point, Jonathan is all reptiled out, whether real or not. He did not want to stand next to it.
Andrew loved it. He liked that he could put his head in it.
They also got to ride in a Hum-V.
The gang...the boys, Uncle Jeremy and Phoebe (their dog).
After this we went to the stables again and my camera batteries died. I wasn't able to get any pictures of Andrew riding Wibke's horse. We had such a good time there. The boys can't wait to go back and do more 'manly things' (that's what Andrew called it).

4 comments:

S.E. Painter said...

Seriously?? The snake went for his chest? I would've fainted. You are very brave.

Jessie said...

Seriously, in the chest.

In hindsight I would have stood on firmer ground about holding a venomous snake (slightly or not). Lesson learned.

Anonymous said...

Come on it was a Hog Nose Snake it would do Andrew no harm at all. I did a little research and at worst if the snake bit Andrew (and I mean there would have to be a lot of outside influencers e.g.. pluto would have to be decided on planet or moon, and it would have to be lined up to Venus while simultaneously Va Tech 's basketball team would win the NCAA tourney) it would be the equivalent to a bee sting. No blood no foul right, remember he did skin his knee a little bit. Lastly, Uncle Jeremy would be there to take care of him and to tell him to toughen up (hehehe).

Anonymous said...

Okay maybe I'm a big baby but I really don't like lizards, salamanders, what ever, and that baby alligator just reminds me of them! I would have squealed like a girl and run! We miss you guys!