Tood's Town IX
About 3/4 mile south of Cairo along the Baltimore & Ohio railroad right of way was a railroad bridge over Rattlesnake Creek. In the early 1900s there may have been rattlesnakes along Rattlesnake Creek, but in the 1940s, the rattlesnakes were long gone.
Under the bridge the creek formed a wide and relatively deep pool. A childhood friend, Bob Paulin, was an avid sportsman at a young age. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, at Bob's urging, we would often take a fishing line and walk down to the railroad bridge and fish for sunfish and other species of small fish that lived in the small pond defined by the bridge.
We hoped to catch a large fish, but never did. However, we almost always caught a few small fish and would sometimes build a small fire and fry the fish and eat them. We spent many hours at and near the bridge exploring the creek and bothering its inhabitants.
The creek meandered through an old slightly rolling pasture at the eastern end of what was then the Arnold farm. On warm summer days, the creek and the pasture were serenity personified.
The creek was only a couple of yards wide and a foot or two deep at most places. However, it was a year round tream. It was filled with minnows, crawdads, frogs and several beds of clams. There were a few snapping turtles that buried themselves in the mud along the banks of the creek.
A few feet above the creek, the dragonflies zipped back and forth and hovered. There were birds, mostly redwinged blackbirds and wild canaries (goldfinch).
We also went to the creek in the late Spring and early Fall to hunt for mushrooms (sponge morels in the Spring). Occasionally, we found some of the morels and took them home where we fried them in butter. What a taste!
The trip to and from the Creek was as interesting to us as the Creek itself. There was an abandoned interurban rail right of way about 40 yards west of the B&O right of way and the Detroit Toledo and Ironton right of way was about 40 yards to the east. With the exception of the frequent passage of trains, that area of land was quiet, undeveloped, uninhabited and a little bit of wilderness. We explored it thoroughly. In between the rights of way were several small bogs and ponds filled with critters, mostly tadpoles and minnows, and frogs.
On most of our journeys to and from the Creek, we would encounter and sometimes catch various species of snakes. There were corn snakes, milk snakes, blue racers, black racers, black snakes and garter snakes. I remember that we once caught a black snake that was over 5 feet in length. Snakes have nasty tempers and those we encountered would strike and bite repeatedly as we tried to press their heads to the ground with small sticks to facilitate their capture.
At that time we had a small yellow part Spitz dog. She was our primary snake detector. When she discovered a snake, she would get a distinctive look on her face. It was a type of sneer, half smile and half fear. She would approach the snake with what appeared to be a combination of fascination, fear and hate. In any event, whenever we saw that look we knew she had found a snake.
The summer days along the railroad tracks were educational, warm, happy and peaceful. After almost 60 years, I still miss them.
Dillard Farnsworth
Under the bridge the creek formed a wide and relatively deep pool. A childhood friend, Bob Paulin, was an avid sportsman at a young age. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, at Bob's urging, we would often take a fishing line and walk down to the railroad bridge and fish for sunfish and other species of small fish that lived in the small pond defined by the bridge.
We hoped to catch a large fish, but never did. However, we almost always caught a few small fish and would sometimes build a small fire and fry the fish and eat them. We spent many hours at and near the bridge exploring the creek and bothering its inhabitants.
The creek meandered through an old slightly rolling pasture at the eastern end of what was then the Arnold farm. On warm summer days, the creek and the pasture were serenity personified.
The creek was only a couple of yards wide and a foot or two deep at most places. However, it was a year round tream. It was filled with minnows, crawdads, frogs and several beds of clams. There were a few snapping turtles that buried themselves in the mud along the banks of the creek.
A few feet above the creek, the dragonflies zipped back and forth and hovered. There were birds, mostly redwinged blackbirds and wild canaries (goldfinch).
We also went to the creek in the late Spring and early Fall to hunt for mushrooms (sponge morels in the Spring). Occasionally, we found some of the morels and took them home where we fried them in butter. What a taste!
The trip to and from the Creek was as interesting to us as the Creek itself. There was an abandoned interurban rail right of way about 40 yards west of the B&O right of way and the Detroit Toledo and Ironton right of way was about 40 yards to the east. With the exception of the frequent passage of trains, that area of land was quiet, undeveloped, uninhabited and a little bit of wilderness. We explored it thoroughly. In between the rights of way were several small bogs and ponds filled with critters, mostly tadpoles and minnows, and frogs.
On most of our journeys to and from the Creek, we would encounter and sometimes catch various species of snakes. There were corn snakes, milk snakes, blue racers, black racers, black snakes and garter snakes. I remember that we once caught a black snake that was over 5 feet in length. Snakes have nasty tempers and those we encountered would strike and bite repeatedly as we tried to press their heads to the ground with small sticks to facilitate their capture.
At that time we had a small yellow part Spitz dog. She was our primary snake detector. When she discovered a snake, she would get a distinctive look on her face. It was a type of sneer, half smile and half fear. She would approach the snake with what appeared to be a combination of fascination, fear and hate. In any event, whenever we saw that look we knew she had found a snake.
The summer days along the railroad tracks were educational, warm, happy and peaceful. After almost 60 years, I still miss them.
Dillard Farnsworth
posted by Tood at 6:36 PM
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