Some will recall that I got Terrie a king snake for her birthday back in December, and that the snake immediately escaped from the crappy terrarium sold to me by a local pet store.
I had mixed feelings about snakes at that time, and all through my life up to that time. I was fascinated by them, and irrationally frightened of them. But I knew she wanted one, and I got it for her.
Meanwhile, with the snake gone, we went and got another, Ringo. And we got a better enclosure.
About a week ago, T said she had dreamed that there was something cold and wet on her leg, and had half-woken, and had thrown whatever it was across the room. Then she fully awoke, and realized that it was probably Dash.
I can't begin to describe how I would've felt, a year ago, about learning that the snake was coming into our bed at night. But since then I've held Ringo pretty regularly, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been.
So T renewed efforts to capture the errant snake. Sure enough, yesterday morning, she found Dash, hanging out in the nice warm place prepared for her, and captured her.
So now we have two king snakes!
Dash looks like this (but her stripes end in a sort of morse-code pattern near the tail).
Ringo looks like this.
Kings are escape artists, and they've been known to reappear as much as *18 months* after an escape. I'm glad it didn't go that far; what with the cats and all, we fully expected to find *parts of* Dash one day.
Ringo's a really cool snake. He's gotten pretty used to being handled, and will just hang out with you sometimes when you're holding him (not endlessly trying to get away). Dash is gonna need some training in this area...
They don't "love" us like the cats, but we love them. They are just such cool creatures, and it's really been educational and a pleasure to have them in our home, and for me to overcome my fear... well, that's sort of a bonus, and also sort of the whole point. Same reason I skydived, back in the 80s...
Both are healthy and eating well, and now safe in their places.
Also see Terrie's snake-take.
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