Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Surprise Visitor

When you live in the woods--as I happily do--you are bound to get unexpected creatures in your house from time to time. I've experienced a whole variety of wild creatures invading my personal space: birds, bats, flying squirrels, lizards, etc. So I was not overwhelmingly shocked when I went into my basement and saw this:


Luckily, I was able to get this little 5-inch ring neck snake to sidewind its way into a jar and I was able to restore it to a more suitable habitat for all involved. He was a cute little guy, though.

9 comments:

  1. oh he is so cute! I was concerned though are these dangerous? I looked up these snakes and it said that they rarely bite but what I want to know is when they do bite is there poison? Here is what I found, and I quote "Among all the New England snakes, ringnecks are most likely to end up in someone's basement. Ringneck snakes rarely bite, but may release a foul musk when handled." Well it looks like you had a textbook ringneck. Did you get Musked?

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  2. I've actually handled ringnecks before and have not been musked or bitten. They seem very docile, though quick, and are not poisonous. Funny, though, that they are described as being the most likely to end up in a basement. What an odd characteristic. lol

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  3. You are trying to keep me away. I hear you loud and clear.

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  4. Ok, I thought about it for 30 seconds. FEAT NOT - you are stuck with me - I can deal with the snake :-)

    Actually, it's more Sam that dislikes snakes more than me. I will actually touch one. He wants to get an ax. To this day it is the only thing I have ever seen him really get upset about.

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  5. And I guess I can't spell either. How anti-climatic.

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  6. it said that about the basements becuase they like cool and damp areas and their #1 food is salamanders which tend to also like basements I think.

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  7. Rachelle~ I have never seen a salamander in my basement. I have seen them outside, though. Seriously cute critters. I was tempted to keep one as a pet, but I couldn't bring myself to take it out of its natural habitat.

    Lorien~ I can't really see Sam taking an ax to this little thing. It was about the size of an earthworm. Though it did occur to me as I posted this that I might be scaring people from ever visiting me. Don't worry, I will protect you from any and all wild animals you may encounter in my home--though you are more likely to be harmed by my lunatic furball of a dog.

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  8. In Utah we would get salimanders in our basement maybe they don't bother with the basements here since it is naturally moist outside? I dont know? I was assuming that was why it said that on that web site. Any way cute little guy. Lorien, heaven forbid Brian and Sam come accross some snakes in a dark basement between Sam's ax and Brian's Shovel there would be pure snake carnage.

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  9. Snakes seem to like me too. When we were living in Virginia I walked in the hall one night to find a snake staring at me. Lets just say I was standing on the couch with a butcher knife when he came home. He was able to coax me off the couch and we both coaxed the snake (who was now hidden under our bookcase) out the door.(with the help of a broom, not a butcher knife.)
    Just recently my neighbor decided to put out a bunch of plastic snakes to scare away the tiny frogs that had made a home in our flower garden. I'm not sure if it scared away the frogs, but it did attract a REAL snake! I had to take pictures so the neighbor would believe me!

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