Snakes

Snakes

Not my favorite by far. Reptiles as a species I am not excited about. Snakes I don’t care for at all. It must be a genetic thing. I’m not the only person on the planet who feels this way. The hair on the back of my head stands up even when I see a photo of a snake, let alone encounter one in the flesh.

I remember when I was a counselor at a boy’s summer camp. One evening while taking a break in the lounge a fellow staff member dangled a garter snake over my head. Just short of a heart attack, I jumped out of the chair and ran out of the room almost taking the screen door with me.

On a ministry trip to Kenya, Africa our host took us to a wildlife refuge so we could see some exotic animals: elephants, giraffes, hippos and rhinos. Then he took us to the reptile garden which he called “the devil’s house.” Behind glass enclosures were all kind of poisonous snakes including the Black Mamba, one of the world’s deadliest. I got out of there fast!

What got me on this topic was the other morning Judy started screaming that there was a snake on the patio. I knew that every summer a garter snake comes to visit our garden of Eden. With the moist soil (due to the sprinkler system) and lush foliage, it is a perfect place for a reptile to take up residence. Sure enough I spotted this twelve inch brownish black critter sunning himself on the patio.

Judy didn’t want me to kill it, just ask it to leave. I tried to explain that snakes have a mind of their own and the only way I knew how to deal with the intruder was to kill it. Grabbing a shovel, I ventured out. While the snake was leisurely taking the sun, I snuck up and just as I was to administer the coup de grace, it snuck down an opening between the patio and the house foundation.

We are going to have to learn to live with our garter snake. Our back yard is not large but there is enough room for us to share. “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.” Even snakes!