Monday, April 20, 2015

Kingsnake

On Friday we were walking home from school, when one of DS's friends called him over to where he was in his front yard to look at a snake.  The other child's mom was alarmed by the presence of akingsnake in the front yard and had already called on another neighbor who had a snake stick to catch it.  The neighbor arrived with the stick and was able to catch the snake.  It was good he had the stick because I was trying to figure out how to catch this thing, which has hiding in some fairly dense reeds.  The other mom wanted the snake relocated elsewhere, so we volunteered to take it.  The kids have dubbed it "Kingy Bands" since it is a Banded Kingsnake.  What a beauty!  My brother and I kept two kingsnakes as pets when we were kids.  So, my Mom thinks the snake should be named "Deja Vu."  We figure that we'll keep it for a while before letting it go in our backyard, which connects with the canyon.  I'd sure like it to stay in the yard and eat rattlesnakes.

The first night we got it set up in the terrarium with a secure lid, potting soil in the bottom, and a nice water dish.  DH bought some pinky mice at the pet store, which they only sold frozen.  Those things are dinky!  We weren't sure it would eat frozen mice, since its a wild snake, but thankfully it did.  DH warmed the mouse up in warm water (in a cup, which had been microwaved), then held the mouse in the cage with needle nose pliers and wiggled it temptingly.  Kingy Bands caught on pretty quickly and ate it whole.  It is about 2.5 feet long (I think) and fatter than my thumb.


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