Snake Wrangler

My older sister has always had a job. Always!

Collecting pop and beer bottles, shining our Dad’s shoes, picking blackberries, …

The most unique was catching and selling snakes at 10 years old.

Someone advertised for snakes in the local newspaper: 10 cents for small ones, 15 cents for big ones.
My sister enlisted her friends and myself; we looked in fields, flipped over plywood sheets in empty lots, and scoured the bushes.

We found a few and deposited them in our plastic bucket.

My sister had the great idea of looking in people’s backyards: compost piles were here goal.

She knocked on neighbour’s doors, told them of our mission, and was never turned away.
We collected about 90 garter snakes over a weekend.

The people buying the snakes wanted them for a university lab.

We were their only suppliers.
They were surprised to be doing business with a 10 and 7 year old.
We got about $11 for the snakes; pretty good money back in 1972.

My sister put her share in the bank; I blew mine on candy.