And So Come The Dutchess Country Rains. Along . . .

with a Cuban cigar.

An explosion of heat and humidity hit this area, starting with an 89 last Sunday, running through four days of 90 or more, and a Friday that saw an unofficial high of 84 and some of the most intense humidity you'll find in a Northeastern location.

All day long, soft country rains falling, and around the lower locations in the nearby Hudson Valley area, fierce lightning and thunder. Interestingly enough, in this nice little neighborhood tucked away in a corner of Lower Dutchess County, the worst of the weather often escapes us.

Even the F0 tornado that hit a couple of years ago was down below, a couple miles from here maybe. The wind was swirling around my house that night, fearsome, and had me thinking tornado. I later found out one had indeed hit at about that time.

But I live on a blessed hill, on a back country road with a cute name that harks to the Bible. Today gave way to tonight, and tonight to this early Saturday morning. All around, the rumble of thunder in the valley.

At 0123 hours it was time for a cigar. I searched through Desk Top III and chose a scary cigar. That's because it was Cuban, a cigar I'd never had before, about 6x50, named Diplomaticos. I forget who sent it, but it's been around for a while. Waiting for this smoker of Girly Man Cigars to work up the courage, and waiting for some age to wipe out the Earnie Shavers punch that inhabits almost every Cuban cigar.

A soft, deerskin wrapper that marks so many Cubans. Where the heck do they get the deerskin to make the wrappers for these cigars? Dutchess County? We've got plenty of deer for export. :sm_angel: Deerskin leaf, maybe? So many of the real Cubans I've had through the years have this pleasant feeling wrapper, stealthily hiding the bold flavors and heady feeling, even punch of most Cubans. And like so many Cubans, red pepper, lilac powder and charred meat.

I spent part of this cigar hanging out of a window in an upstairs bedroom leaning on the windowsill above one of the window boxes, in a house perpetually under renovation. I saw my second green firefly of the season in my driveway while I was hanging out that window in the bare upstairs bedroom, one of three up there, and four in total.

Five and a half years since I took over, a little over that since I actually purchased it, and almost five since I "officially" moved in. Almost died here once of my worst ever asthma attack. Came with a girlfriend in tow. No more girlfriend.

It's been a blessed life here, fraught with huge financial difficulties, along with the deepening of a health "condition" that is now permanent, potentially life threatening, but well under control. A house in limbo and mostly bare. Beautiful grounds, raw, not much "landscaping", a work most definitely "in progress." :roll: :mrgreen:

The birds are beautiful, the animals are refreshing and the city where I was born, raised and became a reluctant "city slicker" is far, far away. The heart of a country boy still beats within and I'm many steps closer to that up here. And the country rains that roll through the hills give way to poetry, prose and soft thoughtfulness, contemplating the world today.

And it was time to tune everything out but some music. Not many CD's, no more "record player." The Music Choice Channel from Cablevision provides some surprisingly good stuff. I started with Classic R&B. Ghetto music. The stuff I grew up with. We called it soul. Fred Wesley and The JB's, a James Brown "sub-group," Ray, Goodman and Brown a/k/a The Moments, The Manhattans, heck, they even played Ain' Gon' Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman) by the late Joe Tex. "My music." :thumbsup: And then, as though prophetic, all over again, from exactly 30 years ago, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes featuring Teddy (way before the accident) Pendergrass, doing Wake Up Everybody.

Well guys, just like the Temptations with Ball Of Confusion five years prior to Wake Up Everybody, the world's still the same 30 years later, the same one you sang about. But it's a great life in those enjoyable moments, in the quiet peace of my little retreat in the hills of the Hudson Valley, and . . .

those Dutchess Country rains.

The cigar went out around 0310 hours, but I wasn't about to let the last smokeable inch of this fine Cuban cigar go to waste. It's a tough burn when the humidity in your box is 65%, but the humidity in your den is way higher. :cryinlaugh: It ended at 0326 with heavy char, smooth, bold, and . . .

for the first time ever, my Burmese python shed in one piece around 0730 this evening, an indicator of extremely good skin health, a must for a snake. It's been a good life. It IS a good life. It is how you view it. I cannot complain about my "basic training" period, really. It's a good life, . . .

in the Dutchess country rains.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

My thanks is to the both of you for the nice feedback. :thumbsup:

And those red tails and Colombian boas sure are beautiful snakes, ain't they?

Thank you.

And isn't it interesting, regarding that song I mentioned, . . .

a verse from it, . . .

"Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way,
Maybe then they'll listen to what you have to say, . . ."

30 years later, they're still not listening. :dunno:

I march on anyway. What else is there to do?

Ah yes, the mysterious and rare Blood Python. Please refresh my memory, because I'm a little rusty on my overall snake knowledge. Is that the one that's also somewhat temperamental and difficult in captivity? I had a Fox Snake that I bought in an NYC pet store. It was an adult. Kept it for a year and a half, and never could eradicate the mites. They eventually killed it. So beautiful, rare, and just about gone from their natural habitat. What a shame, but outside of possible surgery, which doesn't always work either, I did a valiant job, but eventually lost the snake.

I also had a wonderful baby Ball python, great feeder, but succumbed to mites after three months. Pet stores suck because they love to show off what they know, and make a lot of claims but it's a known fact that just about every reptile purchased from just about any pet store has mite issues. My Burmese had them too for a long time, but it's a battle that me and the snake eventually won.

It's up to about eight feet, but is housed in much too small of a habitat. I haven't been able to muster up the money for what I want, but hope to before much longer. It will be nine years old in the fall.

Thanks again for the compliment on the cigar story. I don't have as much time for that kind of stuff as I used to. I also just get harder and harder, more cynical sometimes in my old age, while trying to maintain a sincere faith in Jesus. Sometimes I'll be thinking of stuff like that to write, but often decide not to. Last night was particularly relaxing and the cigar was really, really good. No Earnie Shavers punch either. Whew!!! :mrgreen:

Ah yes, it seems montnoir has put up a post while I was typing my last reply. Thank you also for the compliment, and interestingly enough, my last paragraph does apply to something you said.

And SNAKES!!! I could go on forever about snakes and my love of trains.

Okay, the investment. Here's the deal. There's always a list. About feeding, there's no substitute for mice and rats. Depending on the size of your snake, it will be anywhere from a pinky for a baby snake, to in the case of my own Burmese python, four to five "jumbo" rats, depending on the size of their bodies.

My Burmese hasn't eaten in over a year, which is not recommended by any means, but not necessarily dangerous either. After handling it last night and washing it down after the shed, I felt that it is still quite strong and ready. I do not mean to only feed it once a year, although last time it also went 11 1/2 months without eating, but circumstances have led to that. It's now been about 12 1/2 months and next week I WILL make the time and up the bucks to make the taxi ride to the pet store seven miles away and spend the bucks on the rats because it's time!!! :mrgreen:

Since I have no car, even just coming home with four rats from a pet store can be a prohibitive expense. Unless one of those two young fellers that I used to work at We Can Kick Your Firm's Tuchas with, and that also live in Fishkill, are around to drive me over there. Even with heating lamps, having an extended cold season leads to that semi-hibernative state where it's just not cool to feed your snake. Mine likes very big, infrequent meals, but more like two or three a year, not one. So, I will get it one next week and another meal hopefully before October, because it gets pretty cold here starting in October and can last easily until April, May, or in the case of this year, early June.

I feed live, by the way. Pretend you're in the wild, kill that thing and eat it like it just invaded your burrow. :mrgreen:

Always check your snake for the first two weeks after a feeding, and observe it for tiny, round little black or grey bugs called reptile mites. They actually come in on the rodents. Also, after your snake has finished eliminating it's waste, and when about two weeks has gone by, take it out and wash it down anyway. Also check the tank for mites. They are the worst and hardest thing about owning a reptile. They are some of the most persistent predators (yes, PREDATORS!!!) in the world, and as I said, killed two of my snakes, and hurt my Burmese for a long time.

I could go into all kinds of detail about treating mites, but perhaps at another time. Basically, washing the snake is one of the best. Try to avoid strong poison type of treatments, as they can hurt the snake. Make sure even if you have to throw out certain accoutrements in the tank, like a load of fresh substrate, that you keep the habitat clean.

Provide something that the snake can crawl into and hide in, away from the heat lamps. All snakes need something to hide in. Heat lamps are a must, but temperatures should vary from the day to night. Timers are the best. Lights on 11-16 hours a day, depending on the season, and off at night. Pythons, and other snakes from hot regions need different daytime temperatures to remain healthy. A Burmese for example, needs it to get up to 85-90 during the day, and preferably 65-70 at night, but it can survive 55-60. Other snakes are different, like the Ball Python, which can stand a daytime temperature of 95 or even higher. Find a book, and study the basic rules.

Do not go into owning any animal without researching the basics and talking to people with experience. Observe the areas where opinions are similar across the board, and note where people's opinions differ. When in doubt, go by what a reliable book says. Even the thin little books that they sell on the revolving racks in the pet stores are treasure houses of great basic snake owning information. The books look like they're meant for kids, but they are actually accurate, authoritative sources of information that can help you get started and teach you most of what you need to know.

You will need a rock, and some kind of tree material. Artificial tree limbs for scraping and climbing are also sold in pet stores. Little half logs hollowed out from real trees are also sold for snakes to hide under. These come with the bark still on, and are great for the snake to scrape itself on when it needs to shed. You will need substrate, lots of it for the bottom of the cage or housing. Nature Bark is one brand, and it's great. There are some things you should NOT use. Nature Bark is made from a certain kind of wood. There is a kind of wood chips that is okay for rodent pets, but not snakes, because the oils will ruin a reptile's skin.

Reptiles MUST maintain good skin health, otherwise they can die. A reptile's skin is one of its most important organs, even more important to a reptile than a human's skin is to us. We can get away with blemishes, or "imperfect" skin, although it's not desirable. A reptile cannot. Maintaining humidity is very important for reptiles. The humidity in most snake tanks should be at least as high as your cigars, depending on the snake. That can also vary widely with the breed, like desert snakes. They don't need humidity. :mrgreen:

So, you will need:

(i) a habitat
(ii) substrate
(iii) heating lamps
(iv) a timer
(v) a power strip
(vi) a rock (any old rock from outside even, thoroughly washed down)
(vii) you DON'T necessarily need what's called a heating rock, even though the pet stores love to sell them. It's NOT necessary for most snakes, even warm weather snakes;
(vii) if your snake is a climbing snake, make sure the habitat has some height and you've provided your own homemade bar structure or have creatively arranged some tree limbs to allow for climbing;
(viii) a water dish big enough for your snake to get in and soak. Some snakes like/need to do that;
(ix) MAKE SURE YOUR SNAKE CANNOT GET OUT BY ITSELF!!! For an aquarium with a screen top, that means plenty of clips. Otherwise a strong cage with a good lock will do.

I think that's it for now. If you have a baby snake, start it off with frequent meals, small to medium, every month or so. When your snake gets to be an adult, it may be like mine and prefer to eat only two or three times a year, very big meals. This is actually what happens in the wild, since food in the wild sometimes fights back better than the rats from the pet store.

Yes, and I know exactly where's it going to be, how much it will measure, and it's just possible I may know a master carpenter who can build it for me and spare me the expense of buying one of those beautiful $500-700 ones that I've seen on some web sites. If I could get it made for $200-300 I'd have it before the end of the year.

Nice list. Keep us posted, and show pictures if you can. I need a digital camera. There is only one picture of my cat that died two and a half years ago, which was taken when she was a baby by someone else. I have no history of her in my possession whatsoever. None of my corn snake, either. I'd love to get some shots of my Burmese and my soon to be 17 year old cat. I did make a video with someone else's camcorder of my Burmese eating a few years ago. Gotta make sure I know where that is.

An Emerald Tree Boa. Yeah, you and a million other guys. :mrgreen: Maybe that'll be the next "cool" breed. :mrgreen: Emerald Tree Boa. :thumbsup:

Awwwwwwwww. Oh well, the buzzards have to have their din-din too, but I LOVE those rattlesnakes. The Diamondbacks are so beautiful.

No, it will not. As a matter of fact, humans can drink snake poison, and providing you have no mouth sores or stomach ulcers, it should be no problem. The poison of a snake has to be administered in a certain way, namely through it's fangs or through open sores, cuts, wounds, etc., if applied topically. Buzzards and other animals that can basically eat the poop out of another animal's butt, aren't going to be harmed by drinking a little 100 proof snake poison. :mrgreen: