Snakes

Today we had a snake loose in the house - Again. In fact, I believe this makes the third time in my career of motherhood that there has been a snake loose in my house. The first time was actually the worst. I found a baby copperhead in my hallway in Arkansas. I picked it up with a pencil and rushed it out the back door. That time, it wasn't actually my boys' fault. We just had holes in our floor. The seven foot long, black, king snake was nice enough to stay on the porch or under the house. He never came inside.

The second time, it was a rubber boa, native to the Northwest and quite harmless to humans. He was never recovered and either made his way outside or is happily living inside our walls somewhere earning his keep by keeping the mice population down.

Yesterday it was "Garter" the garter snake....another harmless little guy. Ian fixed him up a big box with grass in it, a cup of water, and a coffee can made into a bedroom. So cute. However, later at night, the snake was not in the box.

Now most of my mom friends seem pretty freaked out about this. I'm not so much. After all, with four brothers and four sons, I've come pretty accustomed to frogs, lizards, snakes, beetles, walking sticks, locusts, etc. It is a harmless snake after all.

There is nothing more pitiful than a little boy crying while searching, "Ga-r-ar-ar-arter. Gar-arrrter. Here snakey, snakey!" He cried himself to sleep last night with big red puffy eyes. His snake would probably never be seen again and would probably die without him.

But all is not lost. Garter was found today in a bath towel. Thankfully, he was found by Riley and not one of my mom friends. So Garter is safe and sound in his box OUTSIDE, and Ian went off to catch a frog.