Monday, November 16, 2009

Nature Study -- Snake!

One day in early October, Bethany informed us that she thought she saw a snake in our basement bathroom! So I went to check it out. Sure enough:


And yes, it was alive!

Of course we couldn't let it go without learning something about it! After I captured it (I grew up being around snakes -- one of my brothers kept some as pets -- so I'm not generally afraid of fairly small, non-venomous ones), we proceeded to do just that. We looked up what kind it was and other information about it, and observed it for a while.

More photos of the snake and the children holding/observing:

























The last photo is to show the half-moon markings on its belly, which in combination with the markings on its back helped us determine that it was a lined snake. Not a very exciting name, but a pretty interesting little creature nonetheless.

We tried to feed it earthworms, but it didn't want to eat for us. So we eventually let it go without getting to see that. We did get the chance to experience its characteristic odor, however -- a very musky smell it emits when handled. Not pleasant. But I'm thankful we got the opportunity to observe this piece of God's creation.

If you'd like to learn more about the lined snake, here are a couple more sites I marked, in addition to the link above which has just a little bit about it:

*More information and better-quality photos of the back.
*Another site with more information and a few photos, two of the belly markings.

2 comments:

  1. How fun! Don't you love the curiosity kids have about these creatures?! Reminds me of when we found a HUGE prairie king snake in our block building! :)

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  2. You and the kids are very brave. Even looking at those pictures scares me. Blech!

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