Snipe Hunt

I don’t remember what year it was or how old I was at the time. I’m pretty sure I was in elementary school because we were living in Jacksonville. We were on  a  camp out with our church. There was a large field back behind the building and a wooded area at the back of the field. We just had some tents set up in the field and we had a fire going for everyone to sit around. As it was starting to get dark out, some of the dads suggested that us kids go on a Snipe hunt with them. We had no clue what a Snipe was but it was described to us as a small furry creature that lived in the trees with long razor sharp claws and big yellow teeth and they were known to attack people.

Well, the way we figured it, we would be going with our dads so we would be safe from any Snipe attacks. we agreed to go. I think there were 4 or 5 of us kids. I know for sure my best friend and our brothers were there. We set off into the woods behind the church building with a few flashlights and some duffle bags to put the Snipes we were going to catch in.  It didn’t take long for us to encounter our first Snipe.

Here Snipe! Snipe, Snipe, Snipe!!

As we entered the woods we started hearing them dropping from the trees and landing in the leaves below. Only the adults had the flashlights so us kids weren’t able to see much of what was happening. All of a sudden, one of the adults says he has caught a Snipe and throws it in the duffle bag the boys were carrying. The creature in the bag was going crazy. The bag was shaking like crazy and whatever was in there was trying hard to get out.

At this point, all doubts that Snipes were just some made up creature were gone. These things were real and they were feisty. Now that we had one, we wanted to try and catch more. The woods behind the building didn’t go very far so we figured our chances of snagging another one would be better if we went across the street to the much larger wooded area. We start off down the path and the Snipes know we are there because they are dropping out of their trees left and right. We can’t believe how many of them are out there.

I Got One!!

Suddenly, my best friend’s dad shouts that he was one by a fallen tree at the bottom of a small ravine. Before we even realise what is happening, he takes off into the woods without a flashlight. He yells back to us that he has the Snipe but it’s very angry and it’s fighting back. Then he starts screaming. it’s that kind of scream you here from someone that is being seriously injured.

We are pretty freaked out so my dad tells us that we need to get back to the campsite now and we need to call 911. At that very moment, we hear sirens in the distance and my dad says “It sounds like someone must have already called and they are on their way.”   Of course being children, we did not stop to think about the fact that cell phones do not exist and no one at the campsite has any idea what is going on and therefore could not possibly have called for help.

Nonetheless we are sure that help is going to show up any minute. We make our way back across the street when suddenly her dad appears from the woods. But something is wrong. What happened to his arm? He only has one arm. The snipe has torn his arm off!

Wait…What??

My best friend and I scream and start running back to camp to tell our mom’s that Mr. Mike has had his arm ripped off by Snipes and he needs help now! My friend is in tears convinced  that her dad is going to die from a Snipe attack. That’s when he comes walking across the field with not one but two completely intact arms. But how can this be? We saw the sleeve of his shirt dangling with no arm in it. They start explaining to us that no one is injured and he just has his arm tucked in his shirt to make it look like it had been ripped off.

But we saw the bag with the Snipe in it moving around like something was trying to get out. Except that what we really saw was a bag with a rock in it being jiggled around by our brothers who apparently figured out what was going on way before we had and they were in on it. We were not happy about being tricked but we were very much relieved that everyone was okay and Snipes were not real.  

I chose this story as my favorite because although it was a little traumatizing. I laugh every time i think about it and it’s exactly the type of thing that my dad is famous for doing.