Stinky Boys

Noah went out to play this afternoon and when he came back, he had a new pet. Do you see it? Yes, it would be a snake. A new pet? Not exactly, but he is hopeful. It seems that Noah and his friend Nick went to the fields surrounding our sub division to play. Nick caught the snake and gave it to Noah, as Nick says his mom and Grandma are deathly afraid of snakes and he knows he can't take it home. So Noah did!
We have not yet determined exactly what type of snake it is. A neighbor child says it is an eastern garter snake and will be a great pet. I don't know if we should believe him, as his mom won't let him have a snake either. I think it might as well be arattlesnake as it looks just as ugly as one. It doesn't seem to be bitey yet, but it is still a little snake and they don't all start out as biters. I figure if Noah gets bitten, I'll take both he and the snake to the hospital and they can figure out what type of anti venom will work. A neighbor suggested wrapping it around Noah's neck to see if it is a python! Ha! Thankfully, pythons are not native to our area. A few get found each year in river areas, but they are usually full grown ones that someone has released.

Seth is not so fond of snakes, but thought I should check the sex of the snake so we would have an appropriate name for it. I have not yet touched the snake, and if I do, it will not be to check the underbelly. (I have seen Mike Rowe do a lot of things on Dirty Jobs, but I have not seen him sex a snake, so I don't know how to do that yet.) Right now Seth has named him Viper, which does not persuade me that the snake is friendly.

Viper is currently living in a big bucket with aluminum foil over the top of it. Scott put in mulch so he could stay warm. I think he'll need food eventually and we won't have a thing to feed it. Shame. :)