Letters – Reader praises police response

To the Editor:

With everything going on around us with “Black Lives Matter” and “Cops Lives Matter,” I wanted to share this story.

Last week, we were faced with something we hoped we’d never be faced with. Gary and I pulled into the yard, got out of the truck, and as he walked toward the house he heard a “rattling” sound. He asked me to turn on the

side door light and….

Oh no!!

A huge rattlesnake was curled up on the porch with a cat there, staring it down. We are standing here with fear and disbelief (in the 19 years of being here, we had never encountered snakes, much less a rattlesnake)!

What to do?

I called Animal Control – they are closed after hours. I called the Police Department, spoke with Dispatch and told her of the situation. She told me she’d send someone.

Officer Williams arrived a bit afterwards.

The rattlesnake had moved around to the corner of the house, after the cat moved on. Officer Williams and Gary moved things around, and eventually found the rattlesnake.

Officer Williams, with his “snake tongs,” after several attempts, caught the snake.

I told him we love him, and that cops’ lives matter too.

He said, “We love you all, too. We really do.”

Some may say, “A snake?”

Yes! A snake. I would have not been able to rest or to sleep, knowing that snake was still there. My kids and their friends hang out outside, a lot.

Officer Williams risked his life, where we were not willing to risk ours.

Thanks, Officer (Daniel) Williams!

You can find good and bad in anything. But ALL LIVES MATTER!

Carla Joseph

Lockhart