Luckily, John was out doing his own chores when I had my next encounter. Not one, but two of the repellant self-serving thieves were present when he opened the back door for me. I, of course, made plenty of room for John as he reached in and grabbed one by the tail as it was about to swallow an egg. He spun and threw it past me then calmly walked over, stepped on it, picked it up behind the head and asked me if I wanted to get a picture. What I wanted was to regain my breath and slow my heart rate! But, yes, I agreed that a picture would be good as well.
So I see a good deal of snake wrangling in John's future and an growing tolerance through constant exposure for me. #Ranchlife