When I was a little girl, maybe about 6 years old, our house sat right on the edge of a subdivision next to a canal. One day while out playing, I saw what I thought was a really cool rope lying off the side of the road next to the canal--I know, I know in the road next to a canal wandering all by myself at age 6? All I can say is that I know times have certainly changed because believe me, my mom is anything but negligent. Anyway, the rope stood out amongst the green snake grass (which should have been my first clue) as it had a red and black stripe pattern. So imagine my surprise, when my new found treasure wriggled right out of my hands as I picked it up. It almost scared the pee right out of me! Crying, I ran all the way home to my mom.
One might think that this experience would have taught me to stay away from snakes, but it didn't. At age 7, we moved to the small farming community where my dad was born and raised. There were no neighborhood children to play with. Instead of being surrounded by houses, we were surrounded by fields and pastures. The pasture we owned just to the east of us was better than any man made playground. The stream that ran through it, invited all types of creatures to come and make their home there--red foxes and raccoons--until the farmers set enough traps and then the pheasant population would increase--there were also killdeer trying to distract you from their nests, ducks, muskrats, gophers, mice, fish, salamanders, toads, caterpillars, 'water skeeters', and yes, plenty of snakes. Anything we could catch, we brought home as temporary pets. We would sometimes take a big 5 gallon bucket with us for catching carp which we would then transfer to the wagon that served as our makeshift tank. Other times we used the bucket to fill up with dozens of baby toads. They were the only pets that got to stay because they ate the bugs. The snakes on the other hand were a definite no no to bring home. My mom was and still is terrified of them--although in recent years since she added a koi and gold fish pond in her back yard she has turned her fear into a warrior's determination to rid her yard of all snakes for the sake of saving the fish she so enjoys. It's quite a sight to see my 4'10" mom out there with a shovel as big as she is chopping up snakes while screaming at the top of her lungs. Of course if I'm around, you can bet that I'm going to try and rescue the snake--mind you this is coming from someone who actually picks up spiders from inside the house to take them outside rather than smashing them with my shoe.
A few years back, my husband decided he wanted to get a pet for his classroom. After doing a little research, he decided on getting a snake. Ironically he ended up getting a red and black striped milk snake that looked very much like the snake I had my first encounter with. A couple of years later, our two oldest kids wanted one of their own to keep at the house, so we got a couple of baby corn snakes, and I've never been sorry. If you can handle the whole feeding issue (which I leave to my husband, thank you very much), they really are the easiest pets. You only have to feed them about every two weeks, although you can go a month, which makes for very little waste clean up. They don't stink. You don't have to find someone to care for them when you go on vacation. There's no training them. They don't chew up your shoes. They're inexpensive to keep, and believe it or not they actually do have individual personalities... I bet you're wantin' one now, are you not?
However, there is just one thing that I have found that sometimes takes a little effort--and that is that more often than not, it's best to keep them hidden--especially when you have clients with differing levels of potential snake aversion coming into your home to receive a little relief from their physical stress and negative emotions. I am not a fan of making generalized assumptions, but the fact remains that I've found most people just don't seem to share my enthusiasm for pet snakes. So I don't tell them that there is a snake living in the next room. Ironically I have one client who is coming for emotional processing, who I have come to find out has a terrible snake phobia---yikes! We're working through it, but the truth is, if this person knew, I honestly don't think they could even enter my house. I feel just a tiny bit guilty, but for the sake of the greater good, I'll keep my little secret for now (or rather until now).
Peanut and her pet snake "Zippy" when she was just a baby.
Isn't she cute?
A more recent picture of Spawn's albino snake, "Alice".
Come on, you think she's cool looking don't you?
But just in case you're still not convinced, and you need to find a happy place...click here
No comments:
Post a Comment