Monday, November 3, 2008

Let's Go Snipe Hunting

Have you ever been snipe hunting? That is something I have never done but I've always heard of it. Never really totally knew what it meant but it sounded like something I would pass on. So after a couple wine coolers the other night, some friends of mine wanted to take me snipe hunting. Of course I declined the offer. Then I had to ask the ultimate question that made me look the idiot from this earth "what exactly is a snipe?" So after a few different versions of what a "snipe" is, I thought I would outsmart them. So I whip out my handy dandy little cell phone and connect to the internet. To be exact, I went to www.dictionary.com Not that I ever use that site because I'm a blonde who doesn't know what words mean sometimes That site is very useful if your children ever need to look up a word for school, yes, your children.

So after looking up what "snipe" meant on dictionary.com, this was the first definition I read:


1. any of several long-billed game birds of the genera Gallinago (Capella) and Limnocryptes, inhabiting marshy areas, as G. gallinago (common snipe), of Eurasia and North America, having barred and striped white, brown, and black plumage.

Well if you read that and understand it, you are better at English than little ole me! At that point, I got that it was some kind of bird. Ok, so after some more laughter from my friends (I still love ya'll though), I thought I would be a genius and google the word "snipe." So I google search it and it takes me to the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, website. Here is the definition of a snipe according to the encyclopedia site:




"A snipe is any of nearly 20 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterised by a very long slender bill and cryptic plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the Coenocorypha snipes are found only in New Zealand. The three species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae."





Ok and guess what - it even had a pretty little picture to go along with it to show what a snipe is!





So being the genius that I am, I now had a picture of a snipe and showed to my fellow friends that I now knew what a snipe was! I thought that was great for a moment in time...

What I failed to do was read just a little farther down on the web page where it describes "snipe hunting":

Caution (according to Wikipedia encyclopedia site)
Should anyone ever request your presence at a Snipe Hunting event, it is in your best interest to decline the offer. The true intent of their invitation is to have you out in the wilderness, often a field but woods are not an uncommon location, searching for a nonexistant bird. Thus, the true motivation is to make you look a fool. Snipe hunting is no more than a childish prank, but if the pranksters are talented enough, it is an easy one to fall in to.


Well I didn't fall for it because I wasn't about to get up out of my comfy chair and go in the woods and walk around at night and look for some stupid brown bird. Plus I didn't see how the bird would go into a paper sack with a stick (as mi madre was so inclined to tell me I would need a paper bag and a stick). I might be a blonde but I'm not that naive!


So the first thing that comes to my mind is the fact that I DECLINED the snipe hunting offer. So I did exactly what the dictionary told me I should have done. So that's a good thing! Now if I'd just kept my mouth shut and not asked what a snipe was. Oh well, now I know I will never actually go snipe hunting. Unless I find a clueless person who wants to go snipe hunting with me. Hmmmm..... it's a thought!

Anyone up for snipe hunting? Anyone? Oh come on! It will be fun to go out in the woods with a paper bag and a stick to catch a snipe. Yep. Fun. Promise!

1 comment:

Little Country Girl said...

That was so funny!Don't worry.I didn't know what a snipe was until I read your blog.Now I know what a snipe is. All I've heard of was snipe hunting.