Weed-Whacker part II

So, those of you who read my previous post about the weed-whacker might remember that I promised that the next time I went out back to whack more weeds, I would be wearing my snake boots, as well as my .22 LR revolver, loaded with shot shells. Saturday morning, there I was, snake boots on, revolver strapped to my hip, safety glasses and gloves on, and weed whacking away. I did the front yard just fine, and then the regular areas of the back yard just fine. However, when I started to move into the overgrown areas which I'm trying to reclaim, the old saying "as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" most certainly applied.

I'm not sure why, I had on my snake boots that come up over my calf and are supposed to stop a snake bite. I've also got my trusty .22 LR strapped on, a Heritage Arms Rough Rider(I grew up watching cowboy flicks and can't afford a Colt :p) so I'm armed and ready, but still nervous as all get out. Anyway, I head back into danger-land, and I'm seeing stuff everywhere. Every leaf that moves, which by the way, is a lot when you're weed-whacking through underbrush, catches my eye, and I'm looking for snake. So here I am, whacking along, when some sort of movement off to my left, catches the corner of my eye. I turn my head to see if I can figure out what I just saw move, when all of the sudden, something yanks hard on the weed whacker.

Now when I say yanks, I means yanks it hard enough that if I didn't have a good grip on it, it would have gone flying out of my hand. Which by the way, is about what happened because as soon as I felt that tug, I let go of that thing like it was on fire, and jumped back. Of course, when I say jumped back, I assume that everyone understands the implied..

YYYAAAAIIIEEEE!!!!!!

Of course, even all sorts of freaked out, as I'm wondering how big the snake must be that is coming back for revenge on me for killing it's sibling/offspring, that it can yank a 10 pound weed whacker out of my hands, I'm still drawing, and thumbing the hammer back as I'm touching down again, and presenting to the target. I have to admit, I was already easing my finger onto that hair trigger before I'd even figured out where my target was. I just knew, that whatever it was yanking that thing out of my hands, I definitely wanted lead between myself and it.

I came this close | |.....This Close || to firing, and taking out a particularly ornery species of........sticker vine....also known as briars, brambles, what have you. Seems that in my inattention, I'd come down on one with the head of the whacker, instead of the trimming line, so instead of whacking it, it wound up around the head. That tug I felt was just that, the vine winding up on the head, and the head trying to keep going and wind up more of that thorny vine.

Ah well, no snakes to interrupt the day, and I got to attend a friends wedding, and drink pretty decent scotch for free. So all in all, a pretty good day.

Here's to outdoor adventures!


Casey