OT - nonfiction - Mr. "Erb and the Chicken Snake

[Doc Hudson]

Mr. 'Erb and the Chicken Snake
by Larry Hudson
Growing up in rural south Alabama, I was exposed to a number of colorful characters, known locally as "downright curious." One of the more eccentric of the bunch was "Mr. Erb" Pittman.
Among his eccentricities, "Mr. Erb" would start to wear "longhandles" (Being a good Southerner, he would never refer to them as union suits lest he be mistaken for a Yankee) at the same time every year regardless of the weather and stop wearing them at the same time, again regardless of the weather. These stubborn habits not only lead to considerable sweating and shivering, but it was a contributing factor to Mr. Erb's adventure with the chicken snake.
Now I know that some misguided people, mostly city people with no first hand experience with wild snakes, say that snakes are more beneficial than harmful and the poor misnamed chicken snake is a much-maligned innocent. Well this is the story of one chicken snake that caused the death of thirty-two chickens in one night.
The night in question was an early autumn Saturday night some thirty odd years ago. It was a warm fall that year, but Mr. Erb had already broken out the longhandles. About 2:00 a.m., a commotion in the Pittman henhouse awoke "Mr. Erb" and his wife. Since he was already in his longhandles and unwilling that a chicken thief escape, Mr. Erb simply slipped into a pair of brogans, grabbed a flashlight and his old L.C. Smith double-barreled 12 gauge and went to investigate.
Unnoticed in his haste, the rear flap of Mr. Erb's longhandles had come unbuttoned. Also unnoticed was Ol' Belle, Mr. Erb's prized bluetick hound dog, who had become interested in the night's activity. When he reached the hen house, Mr. Erb quickly opened the door. With the flashlight and the forearm of the shotgun in one hand, and the other on the triggers, Mr. Erb searched the hen house for signs of intruders. Meanwhile, Old Belle approached unnoticed. Since Mr. Erb was paying her no attention, she decided to give him a friendly little sniff.
As Ol' Belle's cold, cold nose contacted his butt, Mr. Erb's fingers involuntarily contracted, setting off both barrels of his shotgun and killing thirty-two chickens. I suppose that it is a sign of Mr. Erb's single-mindedness, but he spotted that Chicken snake and killed it with a hoe.
The following afternoon, my parents and I visited "MR. Erb's" daughter, who was my Mom's best friend, and Mr. Erb's next-door neighbor. We found the entire Pittman family plucking and dressing chickens. We were quickly drafted to join the fun.
I know that a child's eyes have a way of making things larger than life, but that chicken snake seemed to be the longest that I've ever seen. Every time someone talks about the harmlessness of snakes, I remember that chicken snake, and Mr. Erb Pittman's encounter.

[SteveR]

Doc,

I read your story someplace else, did you publish this one? Maybe you posted it here before?

Steve

[C. Cash]

Love that one Doc! Thanks for reposting it.

[Hook]

Steve, there have been jokes told for decades with a variation of this theme to provide a punch line. However, this appears to be a long time community based story that is based in fact. Having been born in, and lived in, Alabama my entire life, I can assure you that there were, and are, many Mr. Erb's around here. My Granddad was a prime example of one of them. As a matter of fact, I can personally relate a similar incident involving a possum in my chicken coop that came near to leading to similar disastrous results.

[Doc Hudson]

Steve,

This story was originally posted in my column at www.earp.com back in the 1990's and posted here some months ago.

I assure you all that the events happened just as I related them and the names are unchanged to protect the innocent or guilty alike. IIRC the incident occured in the fall of 1964 or '65.

Hook,

I'd never noticed you were from Slapout before. Do you by chance know any folks named Wriggley who live there? I went to college with David Wriggley of Slapout a lifetime or so ago. he dropped out of college and enlisted in the Air Force and I lost track of him.

[Hook]

Doc, I was born and raised in Marengo County, but have been in Slapout 30+ years. I have never met a Wriggley and cannot find any in the telephone directory (with either one or two 'g's). They must have moved away and/or died out. On the other hand, there are quite a few Mr. Erbs around here......

[SteveR]

Weird, I must have read something similar and your story made me remember it. Must be a Hook says lots of good stories-factual out there. It did make me chuckle though, thanks Doc.

Steve

[Ben_Rumson]

Steve R.. Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:34 am You read it here LOL...
http://www.levergunscommunity.org/viewt ... w=previous... googled it

[Ysabel Kid]

[Doc Hudson]

if you guys think i made this story up, I'll give you my Mom's phone number. She will confirm it.

[SteveR]

Hi Doc,

I believe you, sorry if my posts weren't to clear. I am going through CRS (can't remember s**t) stage. I just thought you had posted that story here or on the main page of Leverguns.

Steve

[Doc Hudson]

Steve,

This might be what you remember:

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... ke#p104955

But i thought I'd posted this story before, along with a few others.

[gamekeeper]

Great story...

[SteveR]

Steve,

This might be what you remember:

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... ke#p104955

But i thought I'd posted this story before, along with a few others.

lol, thanks, so I am not going crazy!! Sort of deja vu.

Steve

[Ben_Rumson]

Steve R... Doc & others... I read the above story too.. earlier this year here at Leverguns General Discussion... I don't know how I came up with the first link I posted...I should have double checked the link...I did this time... it was supposed to be this one.. http://www.levergunscommunity.org/viewt ... w=previous I looked it up to check on my own CRS condition cause I remember reading it seemingly recently......Note the Date on the page...