Wild Kingdom

So, I came home from my mother-in-laws where we were swimming this afternoon, and I went to head down the basement to put some laundry in the dryer. Good thing I left the light on down there, because this is what I saw at the bottom of the steps (Lori, close your eyes!).... 

 

Yep, there was a snake in the basement sitting in the tiny puddle (country basements do that), just chilling out. 

I said, "Oh. Hello."

I'm not a snake hater. Actually, I like snakes. I've always wanted one as a pet, but I'd be really sad to give it dead mice and there are no vegetarian snakes. That's why I had an iguana. Just this past May the kids and I played with some snakes at the Beltane fest Brid's Closet hosted up near Cornwall, NY. So, when I saw this snake squatting in my basement, I thought of those Beltane snakes. My only real concern was whether it was poisonous. My luck, I'd be all, "Hello snakey! You so pretty! Wanna be friends?" And then it would bite me and I'd die of venom poisoning. 

I also had to consider that as a Votary of Hekate, that snakes are sacred to Her. I wear a Hekate pendant designed by Janet Farrar that has snakes on it. Hekate is said to be serpent girdled, and snakes woven through Her hair. In the Prayer to Selene (which was probably really a prayer to Hekate), a line goes, "You are steely-blue with serpent-scales, O serpent-haired and serpent -girdled One." Also, while in Christianity as well as some other pagan religions and cultures, the snake has negative connotations, it also has positive symbolism such as healing, regeneration, fertility, and transmutation. 

I had to do right by this creature.

I tried to call Scott to find out if Indiana even was home to any poisonous snakes, but he didn't answer. So I walked over to Darren's where the kids had just gone. Our conversation went something like this: 

"Hey Darren, tell me about the snakes around here."

"Oh, we've got little garden snakes, black snakes. Stuff like that."

"So, what do you think one should do when there's a snake in their basement?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope."

"There's a snake in the basement?"

"Yep."

"God, I hate snakes."

I asked him if maybe I should just leave it alone and maybe it would go away. We considered this for a minute - or rather 5 seconds but when he mentioned, 'what if it gets upstairs' I knew that ignoring it wouldn't be the way to go. I like and respect you, Snakey... but you probably shouldn't be slithering around the joint.

We were going to have to catch the snake. 

Tools used:

-fishing net

-towel

I opted to add the towel because I used to use a towel to toss over our iguana when I had to wrangle him back to his cage. He was super strong and would spin like an alligator. That was always fun.

So, with the fishing net and the towel, the two of us with the boys watching went into the house and peered down the stairs. Snakey was now hanging out by the dryer.

"I gotta be fast," Darren said. "Because that snake is going to be fast."

A couple of deep breaths, and instructing the boys to clear a path for the escape route, we counted off and he went for it. One drop of the net and he had it under it. However, scooping it into the net would be hard, plus it had holes in it. That's where the towel would come in handy. 

He held it under the net, but told me, "I really don't want to grab that thing."

"I'll do it. Gimme that towel."

We did the hand off and just at that moment the snake found its way out from under the net. I had to grab it before it wiggled away and into hiding. 

First lunge and bam! I got it. It tried to swing around to bite me, but I've watched enough Surviorman and Man vs. Wild, and even garnered some tips from Jungle Bob when he'd make a visit to the bookstore with all his exotic, scaly friends back on LI to know that you grab a snake close to the head and not the tail.

With snake in hand, we all ran up the stairs cheering and headed out the door! The boys marched alongside me taking on some of the pride and acting like mini snake wranglers (tough faces and growls of mini-manhood galore) and I let the snake slither into the grass near the woods. 

Darren congratulated me with, "You're a country girl now!"

Maybe I'm adapting to this after all. ;)