Some of you have already heard this story, but I think of it every time I start a new roll of double sided tape. If you've ever had the occasion to use Scotch brand double sided tape you know that the first 6-8" have a plastic logo making it unusable as a double sided adhesive. Most people tear it off and throw it away. But because I sometimes need a strong one sided adhesive, I don't. I take the strip and attach it to the handles of my storage cart which holds various tools, adhesives, and paper.
One night, as I was reaching for a piece of card stock from one of the lower drawers of the storage cart, I saw movement out of the corner of one eye. When I looked up, there was a snake on the handle of my cart wriggling and sticking his tongue out at me. I didn't scream but I did yell for my husband. But as I looked at the snake (who couldn't have been more than 8-10" long; most likely a garter snake), I noticed that he was not getting anywhere. Apparently, he had become entangled in the two or three strands of tape hanging from the handles, and it was clear he was very frustrated, because he was unable to free himself.
When my husband arrived, we decided that we wanted to let him go. But how to extract him from the tape? While my husband held him gently in place by the neck with pliers (I think) I very carefully snipped the tape from where it had become stuck to his body. Until we came to his head. It was clear that should we free that head, he would strike out, and so we carefully removed him from the craft room and let him go outside, but with a small strip of double sided tape on his head.
How he got into my craft room is a mystery. We had the foundation repaired the day before. Had there been some small entryway where they were plugging the crack? But I continue to save those 6-8" strips on the handles of my cart. Who knows what might decide to call someday and happen upon my cart (which, by the way, is next to the window). And we've often wondered what the other snakes in the neighborhood thought of his new "hat". Hence, "a snake entered a bar with double sided tape on his head..."
