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"Snake Bite!"
Fishing was one of the activities the Coney boys loved. Not only was it
their favorite sport, it also provided some good meals. The "boys" were
the four sons of Leon Josephus Coney and Ida Augusta Hawkins Coney who
lived on a farm about five miles from Ladonia, Texas. Their fishing was
not done with a rod and reel. They used a seine and "grabbled" for the
fish. My Dad, Lowell (Sheep), and Roy Leon (Buster) were the only two of
the boys who could swim. Being the two youngest boys, they had developed
a close bond through the years. Dad could hold his breath under water so
very long that they sometimes wondered if he had drowned. Buster could
dive deeper than Dad. Between the two of them, they checked out each
fishing hole for suitable fish--also for water moccasins that were
living in those holes--and selected the holes they would fish.
Once or twice a year they took all of their families along for a day on
the creek and had a "fish-fry" out in the open. This was an event we all
loved.
One of these outings had quite a different turn of events.
The women were unloading the cars on the creek bank while the men went
to the creek with their seines. Dad and Buster waded into the creek to
begin checking it out. They ducked beneath the water's surface to check
the holes in the sides and bottom of the creek where fish stayed. The
murky water in the creek made it difficult to see very far. They had
seen several nice fish in the water when all of a sudden Buster
disturbed a water moccasin. It bit him on his leg just a few inches
above his ankle. He shot to the top of the water and yelled, "Snake
bite!" Dad had seen the action under the water and came up right behind
Buster. Hurriedly they got on the bank. Dad had Buster lie down with his
head higher than his feet so that his blood would flow slower to his
heart. Taking his sharpened pocket-knife out of his pocket, he cut two
deep Xs over the fang marks and began sucking out the blood and poison.
The women and children were horrified. They cried, prayed, wrung their hands,
and paced back and forth while this was taking place.
All the
while, Grandpa Coney was begging Dad not to do it. "Lowell, if you've
got an open cut place in your mouth, that poison will go right to your
brain and kill you. Let's take Buster to the doctor." Dad didn't even
pause to answer, just continued sucking out that poison. He knew that
the snake was very large and had a lot of venom, and he knew that it
would take at least half an hour to get to the nearest hospital. By that
time Buster could be dead. Dad continued the treatment for about fifteen
minutes until he was satisfied that he had removed all of the poison
that he could. Then Buster's leg was bandaged.
Everyone began
loading the cars with whatever they had brought, and we all returned
home, emotionally exhausted. No fish that day! But the main thing was
that Buster was alive.
Lowell McCormack
Gainesville, Texas
Published:
November 14,
2005
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