Early this evening, I went outside to water some of our potted plants. After watering the grapefruit tree (in a pot and grown from a seed), I turned and saw the biggest snake skin still attached to the under-the-house access door. It creeped me out. I went into the house, called the better-half and told him he needed to come home (it was after 6:30 anyway). There are some boy jobs around our house that this girl just doesn’t do. Opening the access door to see if the snake is sitting just inside the doorway is a BOY job.
After I hung up with him, I headed up our back staircase. I thought the dehumidifier in the garage was making a racket but when I got to our bedroom I realized it was the garage door opening. That makes a girl home alone a tad freaked. I looked out the window and didn’t see anyone and it looked like my car was untouched (the garage door opener is in the car). I tiptoed around to the front stairwell and crept out the door with my keys in hand. I figured I had a pretty good chance of speeding away in the car if some freak had just broken into the house.
I got to the car and looked in the garage and it didn’t look like anyone was in there so I grew a sack and marched right in. No one was in there but I did consider sitting on the front steps until the better-half got home. As I stood on the steps, I realized he didn’t say he was out the door when I talked to him, so I just went back in the house and curled up on the couch with keys still in hand.
Check out the snake skin:
That’s almost 5 feet of snake:
Uh, that gave me the shivers just looking at the photo….gross. I hate snakes.
So, how did the garage door open? Maybe the snake hit the button?
It’s just a black rat snake. They grow them big in southern VA. I caught a 3 footer camping this weekend, but have caught bigger ones in Virginia.
You will be relieved to know they don’t have any teeth to speak of and are rather tame. The worse thing they will do is crap on you if they’re in a bad mood (and you can’t resist picking them up like me).
You won’t be relieved to know that he’s probably prowling around to eat the mice, moles & amphibians infesting your yard. And, by the way, when they leave their skin behind, they’re only doing that becasue they can’t fit into it anymore…….
I know he or she is doing good things by keeping the vermin away–except I’d rather that he not eat the frogs and toads. But it doesn’t mean I have to like him. And, thanks for the thought that he’s over 5 feet long now
Speaking of frogs, there was one sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor the other morning. I talked to him and he went right into a stadium cup and was released out on the back steps.