Boot Snake - "Theres a Snake in my Boot" - [Slang/Critter]

Boot Snake. - [Slang/Critter] 

• About this critter: A rattler witch takes up residence at the bottom of a cowboys boot or maybe in a ladies stockin' -- They're known to come flyin' out, right when the wearers at their most vulnerable and ain't expecting it! They tend to go after drunks... -- *Hic*

When i was young and naive; I thought that snakes liked to hide in boots... But as it turns out, The popular phrase, "There's a Snake in my Boot!" was literally cowboy slang for "yup, I'm drunk!!" 
🤠🍻🐴

• History: The phrase seems to have originated as slang and a reference to a common hallucination that alcoholic cowboys would have in the 19th century, those suffering from "Delirium Tremens" (usually induced by having too much to drink at the saloon) would feel a tingling sensation in their boots and exclaim it that it was like a snake slithering around! - “Seeing snakes” was also a term often used in serious medical journals covering alcoholism & withdrawals from the mid-1840s-early 1900s[1] referring to the same sensation. - Being “above snakes” also meant that you where “above ground or still alive.” 

a lady’s take on the encounter. - [clipping from 1875] 

Theres much more to say about pink elephants & other critters which appear during hallucinations, Illness, or drunkenness [1] but i'll save further elaboration on those for another time I suppose. 

As someone who’s never in their lives been to the west (or visited a desert for that matter). I can say with full confidence that due to a lack of context, younger me for a time naively believed that snakes simply crawl into boots & leap out at you if you weren’t careful. My dad lived in California & Florida for a while and told me that it was "important to shake out your boots in case of scorpions." - So, logically, that MUST have been true for snakes as well 🤔 after all, they jump out of cans (and also woody said so.) - made enough sense to little ol' me!! ... Ultimately, I'd suppose that the chances of a snake hiding in your boots are low, but never zero…

Art sticker by @samkalensky (yo that’s me!) part of my fearsome critters collection of stickers, consider following for more