Snake Attack

My sister, Mary, has the house my children dream about. Not only does she have a bunch of land to run around and play, but with her three kids and basement stuffed with toys -- it is Alexander and CJ's dreams come true.

So this past weekend when we decided last minute to jump into the Prius and go there (averaged 44 mpg highway), the kids were in the car and buckled up before we even packed our PJs.

The kids were happily playing in the basement in the morning when Alexander ran up the stairs, heart pounding, shrieking about a snake. Of course, all of us adults thought it was just some rubber snake that tricked the kids. Reluctantly, Zack went down to investigate. Sure enough, it was real and striped. ALARM BELLS!!! It wasn't just a black garden snake... but what was it? Us city-folks instantly thought: COPPERHEAD. Get the children away! Mary started to freak out! If you don't know, Mary is horribly averse to all rodents and reptiles. Seriously, to the point of nausea. She really hates them. Sir Zack the Brave to the rescue!

After retrieval of a bucket and a poking stick, he pushed the snake out from its lair and captured it! So what to do now? Google, of course. What did people do to answer life threating questions before Google?

A quick search and review of snake images revealed it was a milk snake. Now a harmless creature, the kids all lined up to play with it -- much to Mary's dismay. Here are some pics of the ordeal:


See it's a hatchling. We had so much fun speculating how it got into the house and where the mommy snake (up to 5 ft in size says Google) was hiding in the basement. Hee hee!

Note Mary in the background. The face says it all.
Luke the first to hold it.
Jack doing tricks with it.
Alexander trying not to squeeze it.

Mike showing its length.

Eventually it was relocated to the back fields. Can't wait to hear when they find the momma or if it returns to the warmth of the basement again! Stay tuned.