Last Friday, we were just hanging out at home, gearing up for Memorial Day weekend fun. I heard a horrific squawking and screeching at the front of the house. Some crazy bird was seriously having an issue. I picked up Anna - "Come on, Anna, let's go see the bird!" - and opened the shade on the living room windows.
There was a huge bluejay sitting on top of our bird feeder, going completely nuts. Anna was fascinated, and I'm using the whole situation as a teaching experience (I'm such an excellent mother, you know - *snort*). "Look, Anna! Bird! Can you say bird? Bird! Bird!"
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spot something on the sidewalk to the left of the feeder. At first, I thought it was a tree branch, until I realized that it was slithering. OHMYGOODNESS!! It's a stinkin' SNAKE!! And it was not a small one, either!
(Sarah does not do snakes. Snakes are not okay. Nooooooo snakes.)
My first impulse was, of course, to throw my poor child on the floor, scream like a two year-old girl, and go grab my camera. The other children were oblivious to this, thank heavens, and Anna just stared at me like I was a mental patient. I had to get a picture of it! If I waited to tell Nathan about it when he got home, he'd probably just think I was overreacting (I never do that), so I needed proof!
I sloooooowly opened the front door and peered out. I had the camera up near my face and neck, thinking that it might protect me a little in case the creepy snake decided to lunge for my jugular or something. By the time I stepped cautiously onto the front stoop, it was already up beside the house, coming towards the door.
Eeeeewwwwwwwww!!
A few seconds later, it crossed into our flower bed and slithered up next to the slab underneath our living room windows. I was hoping it would stop, because I didn't really like the thought of it spending time sitting outside my front door. How would I ever leave the house again?!
Ew, ew, ew!
It's coming!
Those beady little eyes. It's probably thinking about murdering children.
It stopped about ten feet away from the door (and from me!) and just decided to camp out. Our yard guys showed up about that time, and I'm sure their activity over the next hour or so probably scared it off, but I don't know where it went. I can only hope that it's in another county or something. I'm sure the yard dudes probably think we are completely crazy, too. I was standing outside in my pajamas, the kids were all in their underwear, and I was taking pictures of the bushes. Yeah, crazy lady. That should give everyone a good chuckle.
That was the first live snake I've seen on our property. I hope it was also the last one I'll ever see. Ewwww!! According to some friends and Mr. Google, it's a Texas Rat Snake. Totally harmless, of course, but I still have nightmares about it. Blech.
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