My grandparents lived in Middletown, Kentucky, a small town near Louisville. At least twice a year, we would pack up the ’57 Chevy (yes, we actually had one) and hit the road. With no interstates, it was all two-lane country roads running through some small towns. Along the way, we watched for familiar landmarks that marked our progress.

The first was the Ohio River, which we crossed by driving over the Roebling suspension bridge, a prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge. After dropping a dime in the hopper, we drove across the beautiful Ohio River into Covington, Kentucky, and wound our way up the hill to head into Dixie.

After an hour or so, we found the second major landmark, the Gypsy Grill, in Carrollton, Kentucky.  The Gypsy Grill was a bus stop, lunch counter, and pit stop, as well as a place to buy an ice cream cone and comic books. (Lone Ranger for me and Tom & Jerry for my sister.) Another landmark, a bit darker, was a penitentiary. Finally, crossing the railroad tracks in La Grange meant we were almost there. Hooray!

Once settled in, it was a week full of fun, hugs and kisses, good food, sleepovers with cousins, running around Grandma’s huge back garden, playing hide-and-seek, and eating peaches fresh from her trees. And there was Uncle Willie, who was lots of fun—a big, burly volunteer fireman and a navy veteran of WWII.

I’ll always remember the night Uncle Willie brought the mongoose to Mom and Pop’s. The mongoose was in a heavy cage: a strong wooden frame with wire so thick that we could only see a little bit of fur. We were sternly warned to stay back and keep our fingers away from the cage. Uncle Willie told us that the fierce critter could bite our fingertips right off!

Step back a minute. Why, you ask, did Uncle Willie have a mongoose?

Here’s the deal: Willie worked for one of the largest construction companies in Kentucky. This company had a contract to work for the US government at the Fort Knox compound. The terrain was swampy with lots of poisonous snakes— eastern copperheads, cottonmouths, and timber rattlers.

The workers were naturally afraid of being bitten so, after a consultation with zoologists and herpetologists, it was decided to bring a mongoose to keep the snakes at bay. Not only are mongooses (mongeese?) fearless fighters, but their fur is thick and wiry, making it hard for snake’s fangs to penetrate. These critters also produce a substance that counteracts snake venom. Sounds like a plan, right?

Uncle Willie was taking care of the mongoose that weekend. He told us he would shine his flashlight into the cage so we could see its orange eyes. Once again, he made us promise to keep our fingers away from the screen. As we approached the cage, he shone the light into the cage.

All of a sudden, the door of the cage sprung open, and the furry beast flew into the living room. There was screaming, there was running, there might have been some bad words. And from the corner of the room, there was laughter.

As we kids recoiled in horror, Uncle Willie reached for the ferocious critter and picked up … a coonskin cap, a Davy Crockett coonskin cap, launched by a heavy spring when Uncle Willie surreptitiously unlatched the door to the cage.

Yep, it was a set-up. There was no mongoose in the house, nor was one patrolling Fort Knox. But I’d love to have one of those cages!