"Right by the snake"

Posted by Avigon on June 08, 2006

"Right by the snake" is a common phrase where I grew up, it's used to refer to a "lost" item sitting in a very obvious place, I think it's related to the similar "If it was a snake, it'd have bit ya", but I've never heard either of these expressions outside the midwestern US. Has anyone else heard either of these before?