Critters In and Around My House Part 1

I need to talk about the snake and why he lives in my house.

Let me introduce you first. The snake's name is Sniper and he belongs to my son Tom. I can't remember how long we've had Sniper. It seems like forever, but actually Sniper is the second snake that Tom has had. The first one fell victim to our inexperience with snake handling and came to an untimely demise. (Sorry, Snakey.) When we decided to try again we were armed with a little more information and a little more maturity on Tom's part. I don't think Sniper has ever been stuffed into a toy truck and taken for a spin around the house. (Again, sorry Snakey.)

Now, I like animals and have always had a pet or two, but I like the furry variety, not so much the scaley kind. Tom, on the other hand, has always been drawn to the reptile and amphibian type. There are two people who have been highly instrumental in encouraging him. His Pa and my sister, Kim. When he was just a little bitty thing, Kim gave him 2 dwarf african frogs. They were cute and little so I didn't mind them much until they jumped out of their bowl and died under my refrigerator and we had to go find replacements. Not many stores sell dwarf african frogs.

Tom would go down to Pa's house and almost always come home with something in a bucket and a big grin on his face. His first words would be, "Can I keep it?" To which I would immediately say, "No, let whatever it is go!"

So when he started asking over and over again for a pet snake, I thought maybe if he had his own reptiley pet then maybe he wouldn't feel the need to always be searching for one out in the woods. It would be safer that way and maybe I could learn to like a snake.

So, I'll tell you what I've learned about snakes.
1. They are very quiet.
2. They will escape if given the opprotunity, like leaving the lid off the aquarium.
3. When they escape, they are very hard to find because they are so quiet.
4. It is not a good idea to have the snake and your daughter's pet hamster loose in the house at the same time.
5. They eat frozen mice which are in my freezer. You have to warm the mice up first before you give it to the snake.

A snake is not a pet that will curl up with you on the couch while you are watching TV, but overall they are not that bad to have around. If you would have asked me before I had kids if I would ever allow a snake in my house, I would have laughed at the absurdity of the thought. Now I actually say sometimes, "Tom, do you need for me to pick up any mice for you while I'm in town?" Who woulda thought?