Uninvited Guest

Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you and most often when you least expect it. Before we started RV living, we knew we were going to come into unforeseen circumstances at some point along our journey. We talked about it at length even; conjuring up the art of the possible on what could and would ultimately go wrong down the road. Yesterday we got our first real dose of SNAFU, which is not too bad considering we have been on the road now for over 30 days.

In the morning we were going about our typical routine which usually consists of coffee and doing something on the Internet before transitioning to straightening up or tidying our space a bit to start the day. Tara had brought my guitar inside and placed it in the spot where we keep it over by the driver seat, as I had left it outside by the campfire the night before. I went to pick up or adjust the guitar and noticed a small thud that fell onto the floor that revealed something resembling a decent sized black snake. Initially I thought it was a joke or a rubber prank of some kind that maybe Tara was playing on me, that is until it rather quickly slid up under the dashboard of our motorhome. At that point I thought about a dozen things or more I could have, or should have done, none of which could now be executed since he was now deep inside our coach dash.

To make matters worse, around the same time this all went down we started to smell what we believed to be propane gas, or that all too distinguishable stench of rotten eggs. And so did our neighbors. We quickly shut off the tank valve and opened up all the windows in the coach. Propane leaks should be taken very seriously and can have grave consequences if not properly addressed.

After making a bunch of phone calls to find a snake handler, we got a lot of great advice on how to deter and trap snakes, but no help to actually remove our uninvited guest. So we went out and bought some glue traps, PAM, moth bars, cedar oil, and an extension grabber. After all at this point we would need to take matters into our own hands. We set the glue traps on the floor by the driver seat which is where our friend frequented evidently, at least by the looks of his droppings. The PAM spray would be used later to remove our friend from the glue trap once apprehended, as we were being optimistic. The grabber, would be used to keep our presumably angry friend at a safe distance while we took him outside, and the moth bars and cedar oil were to be used as a future deterrent inside the RV for any of his reptile buddies or babies should they decide to resurface at a later date. We packed up our bags, turned off the power (so as not to agitate anything propane related), and headed out to a hotel for the night with the dogs in tow.

The ride over to the RV the next morning was one filled with anxiety and wonder. The conditions were perfect however to catch our stowaway. It had been a rainy night which continued into the morning. With the RV empty all night, it would be an ideal time for some quiet time in a warm space with no one around to bother, or at least that is what Tara and I had hoped for. Our friend was bound to slither out and explore his newfound space, after all he had the place to himself. He was no doubt winning this battle so far, but his run would soon end. We came back to find that he had indeed gotten caught up in the glue traps we had laid out. With some help from John (the Misty Mountain maintenance man), we relocated our friend back to the woods, spraying PAM on him and the trap to release him back to the wild. With a little encouragement and dissolved adhesive, our reptile stowaway was back to his natural surroundings without a scratch.

Lastly, I was able to obtain a visit from the local Albemarle County Fire Department (ACFD) to investigate my presumed propane tank smell. After extensive investigation utilizing a number of various tools and sensor devices, they determined the issue to be my coach batteries and the smell was attributed to hydrogen sulfide or what can happen when water levels get too low in deep cycle batteries. I was pleased to hear this was not propane, however I learned an expensive lesson in battery care and most certainly be on top of future maintenance. I wish to send a heartfelt thanks to both John and the ACFD. John was cool, calm, and collective and didn’t hesitate when asked to help us remove the snake from our motorhome. The ACFD were very professional and really eased mine and Tara’s concerns through their exhaustive checks of our motorhome. It was a crazy few days but I think we are now ready to head to Charlotte, NC for some sun and fun with our friends Jill and Aaron on Lake Norman.