Michael and Heather Johnson: GOT SNAKES?

So Isabelle has had more snake encounters in the last week than she even knows what to do with and it is 'freakin' daddy out, she says!

We first found a snake in Eden while at an NACD conference last week. We stayed in this super nice condo and there were activities to do each day for the entire family. One afternoon we had gone to the little general store to eat lunch and afterwards, Isabelle and Michael played in the stream/irrigation canal while I fed Livy in the car. When I went out to meet them, Michael nearly jumped his height when a snake came swimming by. Isabelle couldn't get her hands up on it fast enough. Michael made me, his wife, catch it and after seeing it to be a small, friendly water snake I gingerly asked Isabelle if she would like to touch it. Touch it? What about handle it, love it, kiss it, never want to let it go.

Isabelle was in love. She was cooing at it, and staring into its eyes, and telling it to not be scared because she loved it so much. Finally, after Michael could take the snake-handling no longer, we FORCED Isabelle to let it go. She asked all night for the snake. "Please, daddy, I need that snake..." she begged and begged for her dad to find it again so she could love it. Michael's famous last words were, "Belle, snakes are hard to come by. It's not like you can find one all of the time. I don't think we'll find another snake anytime soon."

So like 3 days later we were with the Johnson's, fishing on the 4th of July. (I blogged this earlier). What do we find? A water snake. The kind that 'freakeded daddy out' Belle says. Again, it was the love duet all over again. (Refer to the blog below where she tackles the thing before I have a chance to see if he is friendly.) Letting it go this time was a bit easier. By this time, Isabelle thinks her dad is full of @#$% and is certain she will have another snake encounter by dinner. Again, we explain that these are rare findings and to not get her hopes up. Whatever was the look she gave us......

Ok, so what's with these snakes? She's like Harry Potter, the snake whisperer. We were out a few days ago, doing yard work, and what do we find? A snake. This time, an argyle, rattler kind-of looking snake but with no rattle. I am a bit more cautious this time. Michael and I make Isabelle step away from the bucket where I put the snake and he calls his dad. We go through the venomous check-list of attributes to look for....diamond shaped eyes, bifurcated scales below its tale, 9 diamonds on its head, etc. Isabelle is just biting at the bit to hold and cuddle the thing. Finally, Norm determines on the phone that the snake must be a gopher. I decide to drive it down the street to Bird World, the local pet store. They confirm Norm's findings. It is indeed a small gopher snake...harmless and very young. Isabelle is elated. Finally, she gets to hold it. But the woman did warn us that it would be hunting rodents soon, ie: the guinea pigs who graze on our lawn each day. So I explain to Isabelle that we have to find a new home for the snake. By this time, she has named it, put it in a house of her own, and decided it would live in her room and sleep in her bed. I told her we needed to let it go. That went over like a ton of bricks. I know. I am so insensitive. And a mean mom. She was very sad. So, we climbed to the top of our rocks in the back yard and released Snakey in the scrub oak. I was waiting for the 7 gun salute, just to put some music behind the sadness I was witnessing. Initially, it seemed an appropriate time to give her the don't expect to see another one anytime soon speech but at this rate, we could find one by lunch. Anyway, she was one sad snake-lover watching what could have been a great bunk-mate slither away.

Let's be sure to thank Grandma Nan for being so thoughtful in giving you that great butterfly house, Isabelle. Wouldn't she be proud to know that you are making such good use of it. Butterflies are for sissies, I know.