Three Door Cooler Chapter 4: The Hornet's Nest and Critters

This is where the story gets a little bizarre. Keep on for the ride, more excitement coming your way. Please keep following saucygirl's blog.

The Hornet’s Nest and Critters

Licking our wounds, we found ourselves to be without employees to run our store. It wasn’t really hard, K and I kept up with the vendors and purchasing, it was the long hours and lack of business that made us crazy. Both of us were go-getters, we’re not used to down time. That being the case, we finally had time to go to the other side and see about opening our production facility. Afterall, we were spending $300/month on the store and had a vacant side to do whatever. So K went to the side where it was paneling painted Crimson to survey our renovation. He smelled a faint smell of gasoline.
He followed the smell to the crimson wall with an electrical outlet and switch for the non-working hood vent. Using a pry bar, he took off the panel board. K began by taking the entire bottom down. The room was 8 feet in height, like normal rooms. The construction workers put 4 feet on the bottom of paneling, the other 4, middle to ceiling. What he discovered was a mystery. There was obvious damage from a fire. Scorched 2x4s and insulation next to a live electrical outlet. First thing we thought was a grease fire from the little diner in this room, where hamburgers were cooked, etc. But, the smell of gasoline made us scratch our heads.
One of our customers who helped with the construction of the new building should know. So we were told that the previous owners had people on the other side, using it as a rec center, were getting stung. Stung by what? “Hornets,” he said. “I was there. We could see it from the outside, but couldn’t do nothing. So it was suggested to get rid of the problem with gasoline.” Crazy people didn’t know on the other side, inside the building, the opposite wall was an electrical outlet. Nice...there was the fire. Luckily it was contained, or was it? They just left it there, not caring about to whom the building belonged. It was the Mississippi exterminating company done the cheap way. This tactic did work. Hornets stopped coming in and causing a ruckus.
K took down the remainder of the wall where the scorched studs were and discovered the decrepit hornet’s nest still intact. Hornet’s nest appeared to be about 2 feet wide and 1 ½ feet in height. There were no dormant hornets nesting in the colonies. All appeared dead and gone. We were there by ourselves picking up the mess to get our little kitchen a go. With the uncovering of the paneling, we quickly found fresh scat. Once we took down the insulation, there was a definite fire damage to the building. Enough damage to make a hole about the size of a small kitchen table. This was an old building and we didn’t own the place. We just wanted to get rid of the critter problem, which we think was opossum. We covered the opening with visqueen and stapled any other trouble spots.

Like any old place, critters get inside. The room next to the grey room and bathroom was filled with my catering equipment and inventory like sugar, spices, coffee and canned goods. I had brand new confectioners sugar that I brought from the house or something. I had this bag of sweet on a glass pie plate. I apparently needed it to do a job or did a job and left it there so I could find it easily. What I found astounded me. Apparently a small brown mouse had gotten into the back room and decided to have a snack. I found the bag of confectioners sugar opened in one of the corners, spilled out and there was the mouse. Dead. The poor thing died from a sugar overdose. Too much sweet was too much for its little heart. It wasn’t too hard to clean, all I had to do was throw the contents off the glass pie plate into the trash can.
We had our loyal customer who visited us every morning for coffee, purchased a pound cake or pastry that saw our little mouse problem. Explaining it, it wasn’t really that bad as it sounds. We kept our store immaculate as health department standards are concerned. Just as I was telling him about everyday gossip, a mouse runs from the ugly green door, under our customer’s feet to the 3 compartment sink. “There he goes,” he laughs. I was a little embarrassed, but winter was on its way and small critters try to get in from the cold any way they can. We used the blue pellets that you find in an attic. I really wanted to use sticky paper, but we had no sheetrock walls, so they wouldn’t be able to die behind the OSB boards. These guys look for water since it’s mostly strychnine anyhow.
So the little mouse problem that only lasted a minute can’t match the wildlife around us, especially in the summertime. One road in particular, I called Road Kill Rd, had tons of critters to dodge with your car. There were tons of buzzards around, wait until the last minute to fly away before your car hit them. I have had the unfortunate experience of hitting innocent creatures. Some I could dodge, but the others got the back tire, etc. On a dark road going about 60 mph, it’s really hard to see what’s ahead. You always were on the lookout for deer. We’ve come real close to hitting them, those would really mess up your car, cause some damage. Turtles were always trying to cross the road. Those guys could be dodged usually. I’ve seen large trucks run them over because, well, they’re too slow to cross the street. Tough luck for some turtles.
In the summertime the critters come out, especially snakes. We had our ice machine right on the front breezeway. One of our customers said “you got a snake here”. It was around noon. We had hired another employee, this time a neighbor with 3 kids. June was short, stocky, dirty blond hair, early 30s and with the funniest disposition. She livened up the place. We hired her by coincidence. So the three of us, K first, we were in tow. The snake was wrapped around the garbage can near the ugly green door. K got a shovel in case it was poisonous. It was not. It turned out to be a beautiful corn snake; white with an orange and yellow hues on its back and tail. The way to tell if it's a friendly snake is by the head. Round head is friendly. We were trying to coax the dang thing away from our opening. The silly thing got wrapped up inside of the ice machine. Any small creature can get into any small opening. This one had to be the size of a half dollar. We didn’t pry the back off, not wanting to break off the contents of the unit. We didn’t own it, and it would be a shame to pay for something because a critter got in there. At least, we think it got in there, and eventually out. We didn’t see it slither off into the woods, but being a friendly snake, they eat mice, rats and spiders. Our Mississippi spiders are big enough to carry you away, quite creepy too.
It was one of June’s children’s birthdays. He was becoming a teenager. He was a tall kid, green eyes like his mom, dark brown hair with a cowlick. He was a nature kid, loved fishing, hunting perhaps. He was a rare one, unlike one I’ve ever seen for his age. He was a making of an engineer. He would find old motors from lawn equipment, fix them up and make them whoa better. He would even find a way to morph basic motors into riding ones, like a self propelled-riding lawn mower, without a seat. It had a step on the back, before the grass flap, it went where you told it to go, without walking a single step.
Nature kid had his eye on this particular tool in the store. Yes, being a general store we sold not only foods and sundries, but we were across from a large fishing community too. The store housed small knives, batteries, flashlights and tools to use for fishing. We knew this, did our research trying to make it where the store was a one stop shop. We bought some things that had a larger ticket tag to it. Sometimes these items would sit on the shelf because the area is more the impoverished part of MS, but you had out of towners who came down to their fishing camps for a good time, forgetting the dollar amount. Sometimes you just gotta pay for convenience. So this tool that Nature kid had longed for was a lightweight needle-nose pliers with a cutter on the side for your fishing wire, it floats too. Maybe 3 tools in one, totally useful for this guy.
The three of us were close and June’s kids were a hoot. One 13, 11 and 9. Two boys and one girl, the girl being the middle child had middle child mannerisms, or maybe she was getting to be a moody tween. We had a birthday party at our house cooking hamburgers and hot dogs. We got a birthday cake for the kid too. After we sang happy birthday, there came the presents. When arriving at our home, Nature kid saw a large box, wrapped sloppily with newspaper funnies on the coffee table with his name on it. The size of the box was bigger than a shoebox, about the size of a small book box. Inside that was a smaller box, slightly larger than a shoebox with holes punched through, but taped with blue masking tape. K put a piece of concrete in that box to give it weight, next to that was the very lightweight tool Nature kid wanted. Now remember the corn snake? Turns out it was the same day. We told the kids about it and Nature kid asked what happened to it, none of the adults replied of its whereabouts.
So after the cake and ice cream were the presents. He opened his Mom’s and saw the large box sitting on the coffee table. He put it on his lap and found out how heavy this present was so he switched it back to the coffee table. He tore off the first layer of funny paper and found the smaller box with holes in it, taped shut, with numerous layers of tape on the top. Nature quickly remembered that no one told him about the snake and where it escaped or if it did. He started opening the gift picking away at the blue tape, hand quickly pulling away after every tear. He seemed to take forever, proceeding with caution, he finally opened it. To his dismay, he saw the large piece of concrete. Puzzled, he almost pushed it away and found his tool wrapped up in tissue paper. We couldn’t contain ourselves and laughed at his expense. He laughed too, but found the nearest place to chuck the concrete block away from him. Guess, he didn’t find the joke to be too funny after all. He thanked us anyway. We’re hoping he will look back at this, tell his friends about it and have a good laugh.

Rattlesnakes are well known in Mississippi especially the Timber Rattlers. These critters could bite you so hard on the calf, that it could break your leg, or so I’ve been told. Needless to say, I would never want to mess with one of these. One of our customers and also a temporary helper, heard of one of these on his block, down the street where kids play. He quickly left the store to get the rattlesnake. This seemed so foreign to me, especially if you want to leave work for it. But hey, it was this guy’s mission. Not really knowing the difference between the two types of rattlesnakes, I quickly found out the Timber is quite bigger, making other rattlesnakes looking like dwarf snakes.
It was a hot July afternoon. A summer drought was upon us and rattlesnakes adore this type of weather. These critters were more plentiful in the heat and didn’t appear to disguise itself from anyone. From the word Bye about 20-30 minutes, the guy showed up to the store. This time he had successfully killed himself a Timber Rattlesnake. I got to see it up close and personal as it lay dead in the back of his pick up. The snake’s head was still on and was severed by a shovel. The white belly was facing me as he called me out to the truck. He did two things, I’ve never seen before in my life.
First he took a stick and ran it down the side of its belly. The rattlesnake twitched like it was held captive and now was being tortured. I was amazed. Then the chef came out in me. I was a frog hair away from taking the damn animal, skinning it and using the meat in a rattlesnake stew. I figured why not. Afterall, I am from Louisiana and we eat crawfish, alligator and sometimes nutria. Rattlesnake Stew for dinner. The difference between Louisianans and Texans is that Texans would keep the hide and make a pair of boots with it. I truly wouldn’t have a clue what to do with the skin, other than frame it, perhaps?
K discouraged me from my culinary venture, and I was slightly heartbroken. We were told from another customer that if snakes get the feeling that they are threatened, the snake would bite itself, tainting the meat, and in this case, this was a poisonous snake. An animal that would bite itself to taint it’s meat is a crazy idea, but in the animal kingdom, it is about the survival of the fittest, so I doubt that this would ever happen. I ran this past my father and he says that even in the bible, that the only animal that is suicidal, is the human. My money is on my dear old Dad.
The second thing that I witnessed was the young man, lifting the snake up by his severed head, holding it arm's length away from him. The length of the snake matched the height of our summer worker, about 6 feet. I have also heard that a snake could bite you even after it has been killed. Some kind of defense mechanism, but knowing this young fella, he has seen his share of snakes, and a timber rattler was the norm. He probably headed it off at the pass with a branch to snap on, no more dead reflexes. But man, the snake shiver still gives me chills. It was scary and fascinating at the same time. I have a few pictures of the guy holding the snake, it’s a humdinger.