My new friend, Arthur....

I keep a few chickens (the German variety, with BIG feathery feet) as a sort of hobby (no I don't eat them, times aren't QUITE that hard.....yet) and this morning while gathering fresh eggs from the lot, I spied a rather large black snake lurking on the perimeter. I chucked a couple of rocks at him, not to kill but to chase him away. He wasn't intimidated. He didn't go away. Deciding that he was intent on lunching on the new biddies, I went to the shed to get a hoe, with which to dispatch him. On my way back, it occurred to me that I hadn't seen any mice or rats for some time. Putting two and two together, which, for me, seldom equals four, I realized that the snake was an asset rather than a threat, at least while the rodents were in good supply. To make what would be a long story short, I befriended Arthur (for I so named him, after a favorite Poe character) and have since rented him out to neighboring farms to de-rat their chicken coops. When he is satisfied that his work is done, he returns home and, true rodent connoisseur that he is, awaits his next assignment stretched out on his very own snake hammock, which I purchased with the proceeds of his labors, and which is labeled "Property of A. Gordon Pym" in neat letters on the headboard........