Mace's Snakes

Ever since we visited KJAMBD, our kids (and one of us parents) have really wanted to get a pet lizard or snake. I had been speaking to a couple people on kijiji about buying their corn snakes and back on the 9'sth we tried to find a bearded dragon at the pet store. Heather and I ended up resolving to just stc (stay the course), and that was the plan, at least until this past Friday.

I had just walked the kids home from school. After checking the mail box with Ella, we returned to our side of the road and found Mason standing almost in a trance, staring down at the neighbors' lawn. He told us that he had seen a snake sitting right there only a moment ago. I was pretty skeptical until I heard a rustling in the bush. I had began combing through the leaves with my fingers when Ella suddenly exclaimed, "I see it". Sure enough, a little garter snake had popped out onto the grass on the other side. I managed to catch it and learned in the processes that sometimes scared snakes spray. It was a stinky musky smell and it reminded me that I had never caught a snake before. We named him Haku after a character that takes the form of a serpentine wingless dragon in Miazaki's excellent movie, Spirited Away.



This evening I got home from a training conference and Mason met me at the door with a lunch box and a challenge to guess its contents in under three tries. I got "another snake" on the first guess and Mason introduced me to... Floppy (that's what happens when I'm not around to help out with name suggestions).

Here is Mason with his second, larger snake just before releasing it:



I was so proud to hear how he'd caught it all by himself. I mean, he is only six years old and already he catches snakes, wears a Masters of G wristwatch, and has beat Super Mario Brothers on his own. So much ahead of where I was at his age...



- C