# Umm, surprise! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563 "2016-04-18T16:15:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/21 "2016-04-18T18:46:30Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > if I saw that in one of my kitchen drawers, I’d poop my pants while my wife burned the house down. Ha ha! Thank you for the laugh. 😃 Anaamika, if you mean this kind of centipede [![](http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/11/house_centipede_laura.jpg) ](http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/11/house_centipede_laura.jpg) I’m with you. That is one bug I have an irrational “run away run away” response to. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/22 "2016-04-18T18:47:43Z")
Years ago, I found a small black snake in my laundry - after the wash cycle had completed. It must have slithered into my clothes pile, which I then scooped up and tossed in the washer. It was alive, but very not happy. I gently picked it up in a garbage bag and set it on the front porch, hoping the sunlight would warm it up come morning. Unfortunately, I don’t think it survived, as it had clearly been injured by the washer and was probably hypothermic due to the rinse cycle. Poor thing. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/23 "2016-04-18T18:48:48Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Ha ha! Thank you for the laugh. 😃 > > Anaamika, if you mean this kind of centipede > > [http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/11/house\_centipede\_laura.jpg](http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads//2009/11/house_centipede_laura.jpg) > > I’m with you. That is one bug I have an irrational “run away run away” response to. Oh yeah, gross, the big damn house centipedes that run so goddamn fast. Here is the main source of my aversion. Growing up in my teens my parents’ house had a ton of these. I used to dance on stage, and I’d practice in the basement, _without my glasses_, and I’d blurrily see these little fuckers skitter across the walls. And if you don’t smush them just right they make a huge mess. HATE THEM! ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/24 "2016-04-18T18:57:17Z")
I once had the dubious pleasure of making the acquaintance of a family of jumping mice that had hitched a ride home from summer camp in my son’s backpack. When I opened the pack to remove the dirty clothes, 1/2 dozen of them launched themselves right up into my face. I’m not at all scared of mice, but the unexpected appearance of them and the way they launched themselves at me sent me running out of the basement shrieking. I got no sympathy from my husband who couldn’t understand why I didn’t throw a box over the whole mess to prevent them from running all over the basement. NO sympathy, that man. lol ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/25 "2016-04-18T19:00:31Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh yeah, gross, the big damn house centipedes that run so goddamn fast. Here is the main source of my aversion. Growing up in my teens my parents’ house had a ton of these. I used to dance on stage, and I’d practice in the basement, _without my glasses_, and I’d blurrily see these little fuckers skitter across the walls. And if you don’t smush them just right they make a huge mess. > > HATE THEM! Hee. Our family story is of my mom on the phone with some office and having to say “I have to go, a centipede just crawled out of my sink drain.” The horror was burned in my brain! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/26 "2016-04-18T19:17:03Z")
Ain’t skeered of snakes, but if I found that in my silverware drawer, a large shovel would have been necessary to clean up what my undies could not contain. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/27 "2016-04-18T19:26:25Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Damn. That’s a big snake to find in your kitchen. How long was it? Looks like just a black snake, nothing dangerous, but damn. Might want to check your door seals. Man…you have snakes and seals? Do you live in a zoo? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/28 "2016-04-18T19:52:58Z")
Where the fuck do you live? I need to know so I don’t accidentally live there some day. ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/29 "2016-04-18T20:09:38Z")
Well, that is a startling sight! Glad you handled it so calmly. But… one other question. Why do you have rocks in the drawer? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/30 "2016-04-18T20:12:24Z")
I had a blackbird in the house the other day. I had been in the house for awhile before I heard a noise in the living room (I was in the kitchen) and saw it perched on the curtain rod. I got it to go out the front door. I still have no idea how it got in. And, no, it didn’t come in in a pie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/31 "2016-04-18T20:13:33Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > Why do you have rocks in the drawer? So the snakes can pretend they are outside. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/32 "2016-04-18T20:51:03Z")
I am SO disappointed. 30 replies & no has asked if your husband is Samuel L. Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/33 "2016-04-18T20:55:20Z")
I can’t stand these mother effin’ snakes in this mother effin’ drawer! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/34 "2016-04-18T21:00:11Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > Well, that is a startling sight! Glad you handled it so calmly. > But… one other question. Why do you have rocks in the drawer? OP knows better than me but it looks like a set of cut resistant gloves and the snake is sitting on the palms. And, yes, if I opened a kitchen drawer and saw that fucker, there’d be a me-shaped hole in the wall. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/35 "2016-04-18T21:01:25Z")
I like how the meat thermometer is nicely put away there, right by the end of the snake’s tail. And I agree that your counter is very pretty! ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/36 "2016-04-18T21:06:34Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > Well, that is a startling sight! Glad you handled it so calmly. > But… one other question. Why do you have rocks in the drawer? I’m pretty sure that’s the fingertips of a pair of gray knit gloves. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/37 "2016-04-18T21:14:23Z")
Sorry for the delay and catch-up post. That’s what I get for posting in the morning during a busy workday. > [@Renee](#): > > Damn. That’s a big snake to find in your kitchen. How long was it? Looks like just a black snake, nothing dangerous, but damn. Might want to check your door seals. I’m guessing it was 2.5 - 3 feet long. When I picked it up, just grabbing a handful of snake, there was about 1 foot of tail hanging down, and it draped about 1 foot of it’s middle over my hand to support itself. > [@Helena330](#): > > I don’t mind snakes, either, but if I’d found that I’d be screaming bloody murder. The neighbors would probably call 911. > > Beautiful counter! 🙂 Ugh, I HATE that countertop! It hides dirt very nicely. Which would be fine in a shop but not in the kitchen. If you can’t see whole coffee beans, let alone spilled ground coffee, or ants… it’s not a good surface for food prep! > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Where the fuck do you live? > > I need to know so I don’t accidentally live there some day. It’s funny, my coworkers today when told the story, have all asked me where I live. (Answer: suburbs, not really out in the country like you’d expect for finding such a thing in your house.) The really funny thing is that you also would expect wildlife to set up shop in little-used places because that’s safer. We are in that drawer pretty close to once a day, so he wasn’t in there long. That also added to the shock factor. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > OP knows better than me but it looks like a set of cut resistant gloves and the snake is sitting on the palms. I have no problem handling nonvenomous snakes, but I didn’t want him to bite me. I draped a tea towel over him and then decided that wasn’t thick enough just in case he got mad when I grabbed him. Told the husband that we have cut-resistant gloves that would be perfect for this situation… yes, the ones that the snake is laying on! DOH! Thinking back on him I keep putting on my metaphorical Steve Irwin shorts and gushing “OH, what a BEAUTY!”. He was really super gorgeous. I actually kind of miss him. We don’t have a terrarium, but if we did it would have been lovely to keep him. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/38 "2016-04-18T21:15:24Z")
I have to chime in here regarding Snakes In The Kitchen Drawer. As a full-blooded male, I would scream like a little girl, burn the house down, load the truck up, and skeedaddle. The OP is going to give me nightmares and a warning to all snakes… I just sharpened my hatchet. EEEEK! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/39 "2016-04-18T21:18:24Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > It’s funny, my coworkers today when told the story, have all asked me where I live. (Answer: suburbs, not really out in the country like you’d expect for finding such a thing in your house.) The really funny thing is that you also would expect wildlife to set up shop in little-used places because that’s safer. We are in that drawer pretty close to once a day, so he wasn’t in there long. That also added to the shock factor. > > I have no problem handling nonvenomous snakes, but I didn’t want him to bite me. I draped a tea towel over him and then decided that wasn’t thick enough just in case he got mad when I grabbed him. Told the husband that we have cut-resistant gloves that would be perfect for this situation… yes, the ones that the snake is laying on! DOH! > > Thinking back on him I keep putting on my metaphorical Steve Irwin shorts and gushing “OH, what a BEAUTY!”. He was really super gorgeous. I actually kind of miss him. We don’t have a terrarium, but if we did it would have been lovely to keep him. He is quite beautiful, I agree. And actually suburbia is where you find waaay more animals in the house, IME. Humans and animals live together, in uneasy coexistence. I was reading an article last week about how basically we are forcing raccoons to evolve and become smarter and clever-er as we keep trying to outwit the little bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563/40 "2016-04-18T22:33:11Z")
I’m not particularly afraid of snakes, but I’ll admit, if I saw that I’d be rattled. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umm-surprise/752563.md?page=3)