An unexpected find

I twisted Sidney’s arm  invited my 11 yo son to be a guest blogger today. 

I thought I was being sly —– combining nature study with a writing assignment and using free child labor to get my blogging done for me.  But I think he saw through me.

Thank you for humoring me anyway, Sidney.

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Last Sunday, I was walking down the driveway to see Dad at the workshop.  I was going to ask him a question, but I can’t remember what it was.  I was about to turn the last curve when something moved on the ground in front of me.  I looked closer.  It was a snake, but a small one on the driveway.  I picked it up.  It tried to bite me, but I held it right behind the head, so it couldn’t.

I took it the rest of the way to the workshop, where I found Dad and Grandpaw doing something on the tractor.

“Look what I found,” I said.

“That’s a king snake,” Grandpaw said.

King snakes can bite, but they have no venom, and they are immune to other venomous snake bites.  They will kill and eat other snakes, including venomous ones.

I put it in a bucket of dirt, and it stayed with just it’s head sticking out.  I waited for a few minutes, and then Dad started the tractor to drive back up to the house.

When we got back, I showed everyone the snake, and Rachel held it for a few minutes.

Then we let it go.

It climbed a tree and was gone.

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Sidney released the snake between the house and garden.  I am hoping our little friend will take up residence, raise a family and keep the poisonous copperheads away.