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Time to call Reptile Man – for real!

July 30th, 2003 · 1 Comment

Coming home after swimming lessons this morning, I walked on the front porch (since the deck is still drying) and glanced at my fountain. Then I looked again.

A few days ago I had unplugged my rock fountain, nestled inside a green water bowl by my front door. It didn’t seem to be running right, but with the deck to do, I decided to unplug it and leave it until later. I laid the electrical cord across the top, and some water was stilll under the rocks.

This morning, when I first looked, it appeared that there was an additional cord draped across the fountain, a cord that was thick and black with yellow stripes – then I realized it was a snake! I called the girls and my mom to come take a peek. The snake – as only snakes can do – slithered between rocks and disappeared down into the fountain.

Ted took a break to come look at the snake. He began disassembling the fountain, taking apart the rocks. Mr. Snake was no where to be seen. Ted had to take out nearly all the rocks. I began to think we had imagined seeing a snake, and questioned the girls if they had seen it leave the bowl.

Then we found it, curled around the large rock fountain, submerged in the water. The snake stuck its head out, flicking its tongue, smelling. I was amused. Perhaps it had heard about my musings, about sock-swallowing snakes (see July 26). Perhaps we did indeed need to call Reptile Man .

The girls had their own ideas.
Abigail: I’ll write a story about a snake
Michaela: I’ll make a snake book.
Soon they were talking and rhyming away, gabbing to Grandma, creating literary masterpieces about garter snakes.

Time for lunch so we went inside and left Mr. Snake to have his swimming lesson. As I passed through the entry way, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something moving in the corner of the doorway. A moth, I thought. Moths and insects often find their way inside if we leave the door open long enough. I looked for a Kleenex so I could kill it.

But when I returned to look in the corner by the front door, I realized it was not a moth. “Oh, this is even better, ” I called to Ted.
It was a frog, one of the small green tree frogs. Perhaps it was even the same one I had spied seeking refreshment in the water bowl a few days ago. Perhaps it was escaping the snake – that was my mom’s theory.

Although the frog was cute, I didn’t want it staying in our house. I could only imagine what would happen if it started hopping into our heating system…I got it to jump out of the corner and into a clean yogurt container. Then I transported it into the garden, where it could find shelter among the calendula, tomato and rasperry leaves. Sometimes we’ve found frogs there. I filled a small lid with water and left it there for Mr. Frog.

By the end of lunchtime, Snake had left his post on our porch. Frog could not be found; I hope and believe it probably did not become Snake’s supper. But it was still an exciting day for us all. Almost called Reptile Man for real! At this rate, I think we should invite Dr. Doolittle for dinner….and see who else decides to show up…

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1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Katherine // Jul 31, 2003 at 7:53 pm

    Jason (8) enjoyed reading this entry…
    It reminded me that last night as David and I were driving to our home group I could have sworn I saw a car pass by with a passenger whose neck was adorned with a large snake. I was agog.
    We don’t deal much with snakes around our house, but this morning in our downstairs bathroom I trapped a nice light brown spider in a glass, with a piece of paper over the opening, and then tossed it (the spider, not the glass) out into the garden “to play” as my mother would say. I remember many times my mother doing the same when I was young and afraid. Amazing how we grow up and take on all kinds of tasks that used to seem impossible to approach.