Homeschooling His Way - Name that Snake...

Sep. 3, 2008

Name that Snake...

I must confess....I'm not a lover of all things creepy crawly. For the most part I can deal with creatures of the outdoors. With the exception of a couple of varieties of bugs I don't consider myself to be squeamish. As for snakes, I don't like them. I don't usually run screaming if I encounter one, and I've even braved petting a python before (in a controlled environment mind you). But what I encountered this weekend was just plain creepy! My family cleans a medical facility for a little extra income. We've been doing this several years, which helps me to stay and home and home school the kids. This past weekend, while going about our regular duties, this little fella was found behind a trash can (the date the camera put on the pic was incorrect).

I was given the job of guarding it and keeping it corralled in the corner until my dh could go home to retrieve a gardening implement with which to kill the creature. It did try to move a couple of times, but didn't get too active (Praise God!). When dh arrived with the weapon of choice our eldest (ds12) was instructed to prod the creature with a long dust mop handle so that it would come out of the corner enough that dh could whack it. DS12 hit the mark by prodding it right in the mouth! Like most of us, being punched in the mouth was just too much for it. It raised up, hissed, and shook the tip of its tail to let us know just how much it didn't appreciate being punched in the mouth. My brave dh gave the rascal several stiff whacks with the gardening implement and alas it met its fate. Hopefully such excitement will never again present itself in this job.

In case you are wondering, we are now very careful where we step and what we pick up while working in this building.

If there are any snake experts out there reading this post please leave a comment and give your opinion on what type of snake you believe this to be. I have an idea, but I wouldn't want to bias anyone's opinion so I'll keep that to myself for now.

Blessings,
Missy
(who is watching out for snakes!)

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Comments

Sep. 3, 2008 - Oh my....a snake

Posted by CheleLew

You are a very brave women.....I probably would have chosen to be the one to go home for the "implement" of choice. I am have no idea about what kind of snake that was, but it doesn't look friendly. LOL Of course my MIL would be horrified to know it met its um, maker, but I so agree with you to whack it. Again, you are a braver woman than me!!!! You go girl.
www.homeschoolbloger.com/chelelew

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Sep. 4, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by short

Oh that is so sad. I could be wrong but it looks like a corn snake.... not aggressive or venomous and funny that your camera took a photo in the future :-). Was it not possible to release the snake instead of killing it? We grew up in Africa - my husband's family are avid snake lovers so there are only a very small number of snakes that we stay away from or kill. Corn snakes make great pets.
Edited to say that it could also be a Fox snake (also non-venomous) but it is hard to tell from the picture.

Edited by short on Sep. 3, 2008 at 11:39 PM

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Sep. 28, 2008 - Yikes!

Posted by bbullard

You're braver than I am. My husband was out of town when I watched a snake crawl into our garage and behind a pile of bricks. We were new to the neighborhood, but I met plenty of other neighbors that day in searching for help! It was years ago, but I still look cautiously when I'm out there working.

God bless you today.

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