Weekend Visitors

***WARNING***

 

This post contains graphic images and is not suitable for those with a fear of reptiles.

 

 

Last Thursday I stopped by Wal-Mart with John, Sarah & Jacob on the way home from John's swimming lesson.  Just as we had gotten in the van and were headed home I received a phone call from Elizabeth, who was at home with Rachel. I could sense a bit of panic in her voice . . . "Mom, there is a snake in the house!"  I had to be sure I heard her right and double checked that she had said there was a snake - - IN THE HOUSE!  I could hear the fear in her voice so I had to put on my big girl panties and respond calmly . . . "What does it look like?"  I needed to be sure it wasn't a rattle snake.  It was black and orange; OK, I think?  I told her I would call our wonderful retired neighbor, John, next door to come and catch it. 

 

I began to drive a little faster and called our neighbor.  After speaking with the neighbor, I called Elizabeth back to let her know John was on his way over and to unlock the door and let him in.  "How big is the snake?"  "Little," was the response followed by, "It went in my room!"  "Leave it alone, but keep an eye on it so you can tell John where it is."

 

Sarah & John had overheard the phone conversations and seemed very concerned and curious about the whole ordeal.  When we arrived home they were very quick to want to know about the snake and hurried in the house.  I walked in to finding our neighbor holding a Harry Potter LEGO box. The snake had gone under Elizabeth's bed and slithered into an empty box.  Sure made it easy to catch. We transferred the snake to a mason jar so Paul could see it when he got home and so Elizabeth could keep her box.

 

We kept the jar on the kitchen counter all afternoon waiting for Paul to get home from work.  It creeped me out every time I walked by.  Of course we had to search on the internet to find out what kind of snake had wondered his way in our house. A ground snake, who is completely harmless, unless you are a spider or scorpion.

As the snake spent the afternoon coiled up on my counter, Elizabeth became more comfortable with him and decided to name him, George.  After dinner we all went on an outing to deliver George to his new home in the desert, far from our house.

That was a fun adventure! It made me realize that I always want a nice retired couple as neighbors.  We had some in Kentucky who helped me out plenty when Paul wasn't around and now in Arizona ones who are willing to come to our rescue while Paul is at work.

Our snake adventure continues . . .

On Sunday after church, while Paul was gone to meet with someone about his new calling, John came in from playing outside saying, "There is a snake outside!" I didn't know if he was serious or imitating the previous day.  He said it was near the stairs, but he couldn't find it.  He looked all over and with a tone of sadness & disappointment said, "Where did snake go?"  Then all of a sudden we spotted him.

A big version of the little guy from a few days earlier. He slithered along until he hid in a pile of rocks.  Where are these snakes coming from?  We have not had any in 2 years and now we have had two in a matter of 4 days. I told John to keep an eye on the snake until Daddy got home.  I really didn't want to deal with this one, it was BIG!

This snake proved to be entertaining and fascinating.  He clearly did not want to stay hidden but had something else on his agenda. It was cool to watch his slither through the pile of rocks and then work hard to find a way to climb in between, up and over our cinder block wall.

Unfortunately Paul missed it all. Why do these exciting things always happen while he is away?

Once the snake reached the top of the wall he slithered on top until he disappeared into our neighbors vining plant.  After he was gone I began to wonder if this snake came looking for his lost baby that visited us the other day? Oh no, had we split up an innocent little snake family . . .