My Slithering Friend

I must give kudos to Brianna Abney - my blog and Facebook admin partner. The other day after dinner, the kids and I were outside. I was watering the flowers and the kids were eating Popsicles. When I was done watering I decided to have a seat in my camping chair and relax for a few minutes. And then a bug crawled on me. Not a small bug. A medium sized bug. It was black with red, I’m not real sure on the specifics and they don’t really matter anymore, its just one of the stepping stone leading up to the event of the evening. Since I am not a fan of any bug, I decided I would not be sitting in the chair relaxing. I mean after all - I have no idea where this bug went to after I freaked out and flicked it off of me. So, I folded up the chair, picked it up, and turned to bring it back into the garage.

That's when I saw it.

Squirming around like it was confused on where to go. I froze. Was it poisonous, was the mama around? I wanted to grab the kids and run inside, but I knew if I did this creature, this SNAKE would get further into the garage and grow into an adult snake and then what would I do? This snake was still small enough that I wasn’t screaming, but it still had enough punch to render me frozen not knowing what to do. Mostly because I didn’t want to get bit by a poisonous snake while I was home alone with the kids. So, I did what any freaked out woman would do.
I called a neighbor. 

I had originally thought Brianna’s step son would be the one to come down and haul this thing off, but to my surprise Brianna came charging down the street like a She-ra Princess Warrior to my rescue. Her step son Cameron was with  her, and they quickly determined that my new friend was a white oak. Common to north Florida and wooded areas. I have also learned that they like to hide in tree’s and attack their prey by surprise. UGH. Just the thought of a snake in a tree and possibly dropping on me, freaks me out while I am sitting here typing. Anyway...back to this slithering reptile. Apparently they are not poisonous, which is good to know and they’re good at keeping rodents away. That's good to know too, but I’d like to propose to all the snakes out there- that if they could please do their ‘do-gooding’ while I am inside that would be great.
Episodes like this remind us of the precautions that we do need to take. Especially living in Florida - we do have poisonous snakes and we just need to be aware of our surroundings, teach our kids to be aware, and most important (for me especially) know what to do when we happen to come upon these creatures. After all, our She-ra Princess Warrior may not always be around when we need her. 

So, what do we do when we happen upon a poisonous one? The Florida Museum of Natural History says to just leave the snake alone. Most snakes bites occur when a person is handling them or trying to catch them. So, what if the snake is in the garage like mine? Without getting too close, try to push it out with a long handled broom or shovel. Of course if the snake is aggressive or poisonous and eliminating its existence is the only option, then do so with caution. If the snake is in an area that you can not get to, you can call Florida Wildlife Trapper at 1-866-263-WILD. They also remove other animals. Check out their website for more information. You can also find them on Facebook.  

With that -  lets all be safe and hopefully none of you happen to come across the mama or the siblings!




-Jenn V