Snakes on a Plain White Carpet!

Last night started normal enough, for our household. My man grabbed the best thrift store find from last week, a full size Optimus Prime helmet with voice changer for only 99¢, and ushered the kids to bed.

Then a few hours later while my man and I were enjoying NCIS and a glass of red wine we heard a scream, followed by our 7yo son running downstairs yelling,

"THERE'S A SNAKE IN BROTHER'S ROOM! HELP HIM!

What!?!


There was something in the scream we heard above our heads, coupled with the levity the 7yo delivered his message that told my husband and I both there was indeed something upstairs. We both sprinted. And low and behold what did we find?

A toy snake like the ones the boys were growing in the bathtub recently?

Afraid not.

A large insect like the millipede we caught on a recent hike?

Wrong again.

A baby snake no bigger than your hand like we caught in a jar a two years ago?

Nope.

I was prepared for one of those three things, leaning heavily to a misidentified large worm. However, it was an over two and half feet long RAT SNAKE on the carpet in his bedroom! My poor 9yo boy was crouched against the wall on his bed sobbing. My man, who is not a fan of snakes, grabbed my daughter's shoe and jumped to action. He held the snake's head down with the shoe and used his free hand to keep the snake's body still. I knew immediately the snake was harmless so once the snake was contained by the brave Optimus Dad, I took a moment to talk everyone down. Then my exposure to too much Discovery Channel led me to grab a pillowcase to put the snake inside. Turns out it works like a charm.

Before we let the snake loose outside we had to share our find with the neighbors. Don't you want to be my neighbor now?

Here's the only picture I was able to snap of the snake. It was in an incredible hurry to get away from us and down the storm drain. I can imagine we weren't the most hospitable of hosts. I hope he passes on the word so none of his friends stop in for a visit either.