The Solution

See "The Problem " in my previous post if you haven't read part one of the story yet.

What are we to do? I have mountains of laundry to do for the week but we can't use the washing machine until we fix this drainage pump problem. So we're standing in the basement looking down into the deep murky waters of the sump pump bucket thingy and as I shine the flashlight down into the bucket I too see the black shiny scales. The only solution is to reach down into the 2 feet of dark water and pull this writhing, slimy creature out of the bucket by hand...without getting bit or strangled.

So who reached down into the bucket to dislodge the dark, angry serpent monster??

Yours truly of course. I searched for some sort of rubber gloves and found one blue one and a gardening glove. I strapped the gloves on and went down into the basement to solve the plumbing problem.

I reached down into the dark, dirty water and pulled out....
...
...
THIS!






Yep, I pulled a giant 4 foot black rat snake out of my plumbing system while my husband stood back and took pics. The trick is to pick the body of the snake up with an unfolded hanger while you quickly grab the neck just behind the head before getting bit. Rich was a trooper though. He did pet the snake before we set it free and he got some good shots of the excitement before I rushed off to my photo shoot.

Nothing like wrestling with a giant reptile to boost your confidence before a shoot.
So next time you're struggling with a plumbing problem...
...Call a plumber b/c I think toilets are yucky!