Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 04, 2022

Is Calvin too young for Red Bull?

He probably won’t find a poisonous snake.

Now a VENOMOUS snake on the other hand…

Doesn’t Calvin already scream like a loon?

What poisonous snakes can one find in the area Calvin and Hobbes takes place (which is said to be in Watterson’s home town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio)?

Where fools rush in

We went to check a giant snake we saw crossing the road at a friend’s house. I found it and its head popped up and its tail started rattling. It didn’t happen if you didn’t take pictures and I wanted to identify it. It was lost because the guidebook says that there are no diamondback rattlers up here.

There IS such a thing as an adult adrenaline junky. One married our youngest daughter, who fairly quickly realized that he was exciting and even kind of fun but in no useful way a good spouse.

How many species of venomous snakes does the US have, I only know of the Rattlesnake and Cottonmouth? Meanwhile Australia has about a 100, of which 12 can kill you.

It does, which is why I have 2 cups of Joe before I can function……

When in danger, fear or doubt—run in circles! Scream and shout!

Heck, I’m 70, and I’m too young for Red Bull…

I caught a live rattlesnake in a small Havahart Small Animal Live Trap that I set out to catch packrats.

I thought maybe he’d use it to scare Susie.

Sounds like a good plan to me. (Says I while sipping my coffee).

Just ask Dad and Mom to take you to the zoo, Calvin.

The boarding school I was at in Australia was on the edge of a farming area, we’d get snakes come into the school. One time, a King Brown about 2 metres long ended up under one of the boarding houses; the housemaster who was also in charge of cadets, took care of it with his shotgun.

I managed to catch myself a brown snake, it was about 3’ long. Put it in a jam tin, covered the top with a handkerchief, and showed a housemaster (another one) who really jumped, then insisted I take it to the other one (above), who swore profusely, took it off my, threw it down out of the tin then killed it with a trampoline spring (no idea where that came from!).

In retrospect, catching it really wasn’t a sensible thing for a 13 year old to do…the bite would I expect not have killed me, but it would have put me (or anyone else) in hospital.

[For reference, my brother was also at a different boarding school at this time, and caught red-back spiders!]

A true jolt in the morning!

that’s provided that the snake gives you enough time to do all that, Calvin!

Nowadays it’s the deer ticks that will have you “screaming like a bunch of loons!”

Coffee is easier to find than a snake, but only the snake can come looking for you.

I am 72 years old, and I hate to admit it but if I see a snake, I would be just like Calvin are running around in circles and screaming like a little girl! Isn’t that sad?

In late March, many of us snake lovers visit a winter rattlesnake den several miles up the road specifically to see how many we can find! My record one lovely warm morning was 13. They are just coming out to get their heat load and are fairly docile, altho we are very careful where we step as the little ones are more active. BTW I am a woman, 74!

I would run through the drier parts of the bayou as a boy. When you jumped off a log and a snake came out, neither you nor the snake waited around to discuss toxins. :)

We were staying at a B&B on the edge of the Black Hills. We went for an early morning hike, and on a side sloped we heard a hiss and a rattle a little off the trail. We couldn’t put eyes on it, so carried on, going over which mimic it might have been. There are several. When we got back in for breakfast the hostess mentioned she was going to tell us before we headed out that just before we came she had found a rattler, and had taken care of it. She just wanted to warn us to be aware, but they only show up every few years so we should be good. When we told her what we heard and where we heard it, she blanched, and left with a snake tool and a sack. We felt bad for the snake that we told her.

Calvin feels that he and Hobbes would scream “like a bunch of loons” but they would still only be a pair of loons. Calvin is usually loonier than Hobbes but there are exceptions.

I was pretty reckless and care-free as a child but never did I utter the words: _ Com’on lets go find a big ol’ poisonous snake!_

Running around screaming like a loon is the only exercise I get.

When I was a Scout leader another leader and I were assigned to take a collection of Webelos (12 year olds) on a hike along the dirt roads of White Tanks park south of Phoenix. We tried to keep them behind us but it was like picking up handfuls of water. Partway through the batch ahead of us came running back yelling about a snake. Sure enough, a 6 foot rattler was moseying across the road. I instructed the boys to stay at least the length of the snake’s body from it but to try to identify it. Many noticed the rattles before one said it was a Diamondback: look at the pattern of diamonds on its back. Instruction successful! Adventure had!

Thank goodness I am old enough to drink coffee.

Red Bull !? NOOO – he is already hyper evnough !

Hobbes is not too sure about this idea….

Calvin, you don’t need a real snake. Just use your imagination as usual.

The scare one gets from a poisonous snake often ends quickly, with death. Better to get scared by a non-poisonous one. You will enjoy it for years!

Or you grab it by the tail & say Oh, Crikey! He’s an ornery bugger!

Snakes do work… but not as good as coffee.

“Venomous,” not “poisonous.” The former means it will inject venom with its bite; the latter means it is toxic to eat.

I love Calvin’s lil kid logic! So infectious!

There are no venomous or poisonous snakes in the comics. They’re all paper snakes.

After living down here in the desert South West for 31 years, I finally saw a rattlesnake the other day. I did not cave to my first instinct, which was to scream like a little girl and run but stood at a safe distance and watched him slither out of sight.

A week after moving into the Kali Sierra Foothills I had my 1st Rattler encounter in my garage. Over the next 24 years I’ve “encountered” 61 more, one *INSIDE*my house, so far I’m undefeated. I now am considered a Wrangler in my community and help out my neighbors with their Rattler issues. The biggest was “Grandpa” at 74 inches and 16 buttons.

I grew up in Florida which is home to all four venomous snakes. If I recall, Rattler, Mocassin, Copperhead and Coral. (there’s more than one rattler type, but I just count them as one). As kids we spend hours in the woods, never much minding the potential for disaster. We camped, hiked, rode bikes, climbed trees… and far as I know, none of us got on a snake’s bad side. Saw a few, but they wanted no part of us. But I still don’t like snakes.

When in danger, when in doubt… run in circles, scream and shout.

Depends on how strong you make the coffee.

There’s a copperhead in Chickweed Lane

Calvin is a genius I’m goanna go try to find a snake

I’d catch snakes as a kid. One day, I caught three decent size garden snakes and put them in a Lowes bucket. I carelessly left the snake bucket on the back porch when I got distracted by some other nature thing, and my mom let our dog out. The dog went nuts when he saw the snakes, my mom came out to see what was up, and she ran away from the snake bucket. I let the snakes go after that, but there’s a picture of me in a photo album holding up three snakes and smiling proud as anything.