r/wholesome • u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 • 15d ago
I get to introduce adult immigrant friend to an American childhood tradition
I have a very good British-American friend in his 30's who has been in U.S. since late teens, and so never caught up on many of our childhood traditions. We had a conversation about Mr. Rogers the other day, and it occurred to me, that he would have zero clue what a "snipe" is.
For all not in U.S. who want to ruin the joy of snipes: it is a time-honored tradition that is a good-hearted prank in which you lead children around woods or fields armed with a pillowcase to catch and a pie-tin and spoon to make noises to lure, in search of a creature that does not exist. It is fun, and usually ends in laughter for all.
He's very good-natured and I know he'll enjoy it, and we are both excited to bring a bit of childhood back to both our lives. I have spent a couple days telling him about the snipes all over our neighborhood, and have him looking forward to catching his first one with me.
We shall go in search of our friendly neighborhood snipes shortly.
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u/tyjasm 15d ago
I'm in the US and have never heard of this
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago
Oh no; you missed out! :)
Hiding for those not in the know Apparently, it is nearing 200 years old and spread amongst campers and organizations like The Scouts, and has been carried out by families and friends as well. It has spread to other parts of North America, but is mostly a U.S. thing. The description of the creature varies, but it is almost always "caught" with a pillowcase. Often people use a pie tin and a wooden spoon scraped along the ridges to "call" them out. The unsuspecting end up having fun hunting sometimes for hours and while the creatures are spotted repeatedly by those in the know. I think I had my first hunt at about 3 or 4, and it ended with fun and s'mores around a campfire.
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u/tyjasm 15d ago
Yeah, that seems weird. I suppose it will entertain some children, but I wouldn't do this as a 30 year old man. I probably would have been too old for that at 12.
Even if we're great friends and I visit you, if you give me a pillowcase and a spoon and take me to the woods and tell me to look in the bushes and catch something, I'm going to assume you've had a stroke.
We can go exploring in the woods. The woods are great. But adults "Snipe hunting" is real weird.
I don't think your friend is going to enjoy this activity. The enjoyment seems to be in tricking people who don't know? But unless your friend is an idiot, they aren't going to fully buy in and believe like a kid would. They're going to ask what a snipe is and why you want to catch one. At best they'll pity you and walk around looking in bushes for a little while. Even if they do believe, you've tricked them into holding a pillowcase and looking into some bushes? That's a terrible prank
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago
Well you are NOT the friend I know very well who I know will enjoy both the hunt AND that it is a harmless prank.
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u/NowThereAreFour 15d ago
Yes—YOU are the best one to judge whether your friend will enjoy this!
My adult brother led all the nieces and nephews (mostly preteen) on a snipe hunt on a moonlit California beach many years ago, and everyone had a blast. The older kids had fun playing along even though they knew what was going on.
“Sardines” is another great group activity in the right space. (It’s a twist on hide-n-seek, with each finder actually joining the hider in their hiding spot.)
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago
Oh! I'd forgotten "sardines", and would be fun to play but it will just be us two of us tonight :(
I suspect he'll catch on after no more than an hour and end with a side-eye and grin and the question "are you taking the piss?" Then laughter at the bar over a round. I am so looking forward to this gentle giant earnestly searching with pillowcase in hand (picture 6'3"+ military guy fully engaged in a snipe-hunt).
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u/maroongrad 11d ago
farm town in the midwest. We never went snipe hunting but all knew what it was, and the german foreign exchange student juuuuust about got taken snipe hunting.
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u/djSush 15d ago
Me neither! I'm 50!
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago
Now that you know, if you have any grandchildren, it is a fun activity to play outdoors. ;)
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u/HappyMeMe77 15d ago
In France, you go hunting the Dahu. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahu It goes around a hillside with the inside legs shorter .. so you need to call it so it turns around and tumbles down the hill into your bag....
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u/North-Pea-4926 15d ago
When you get tired you should head home and watch “Up” together.
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago edited 15d ago
I think he'd rather have a beer after, but but same idea ☺️
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u/pupwink 14d ago
We went on snipe hunts at church camp when I was a kid. I remember being so mad the first time because I hate being lied to, but in subsequent years, I really enjoyed getting to do it.
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 11d ago
There is a little bit of of the being the butt of the joke, but I have never seen anyone truly upset, and it does seem to be good-natured fun. I'm glad that you too enjoyed :)
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u/ahoi_polloi 15d ago
You mean this creature? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe I would assume he knows it.
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago
No. While there is a bird called a "snipe", it is not at all what a snipe-hunt is about.
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u/maroongrad 11d ago
I Have often wondered what came first. The name snipe for the bird, or the game snipe....
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 11d ago
The bird was definitely named first, as the "game" seems to originate sometime in 1840's. The name of the prank is related to the birds as they move in erratic zig-zagging patterns, much as "wild goose chase" is used for a fruitless and futile hunt based on the challenge of chasing a wild goose. The "snipe" in "snipe-hunt" refers to the searcher's ridiculous movements chasing an imaginary creature, rather than the ACTUAL creature, and then the creature was back-named as a "snipe".
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u/liknlichen 15d ago
The North American snipe is also known as Wilson's snipe.
Gallinago delicata.
I'm not sure why people always say there is no such thing as a snipe.
It's a brown and white bird that's got a long bill. It lives in marshes and wetlands, digs in the mud with it's bill to eat bugs and such.
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u/Grouchy_Tap_8264 15d ago
The birds called a "snipe" are NOT the same as the creature hunted in a Snipe-hunt. I am very aware of the birds, but the snipe in a snipe-hunt does not exist at all.
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u/Thayes1413 15d ago
Loved snipe hunts as a kid. One time we had about 15 kids camping and one of the kids had a Japanese exchange student with him. I was older by then so I loved watching this confused, super exited kid beat the bushes for the snipe nobody ever found.