Snakey!

My cat Brillo LOVES to catch snakes in the yard and bring them in through the pet door. Lucky for them, I almost always find them before she actually harms them and I'm able to release them outside again. I'd gotten one away from her early this morning as she was about to come in the pet flap with it.

This afternoon, however, I was going through the living room on the way to clean out a closet. I found this on the floor:



As you can see, it was very much alive, and was a little challenging to catch. Its tongue was flicking like crazy and the tail was shaking like a rattlesnake's, even though it's clearly a harmless snake.



And yes, that is ME holding the snake. I'm not very afraid of them and my dh and I have a deal--I remove the "live" critters from the house, he deals with the dead ones.

Enjoy!

C

A pretty little guy! Do you know what species it is?

It does look very much like a cornsnake. And a nice one at that.

What did you do with him?

The tail shaking is a defensive maneuver. A lot of nonvenomous snakes rattle their tails trying to scare predators off. I find it cute when the lil babies do it, especially since one can hardly feel their bites LOL.

I think the snake is what is commonly called a "rat snake." See second photo: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CCcQ9QEwBA

My cat usually brings in this variety: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St...ayi_texana.jpg

And yes, it did try to bite me. Didn't manage to break the skin even! It was the first time I've been bitten.

Our 'hood is still pretty wild. I try to place the snakes in vacant lots, and we have 2 across the street that open up to a pasture. Almost all of our neighbors feel that the "only good snake is a dead snake" so I always send them away with good vibes for the future.

Your much braver then I

Ohhh I think he's adorable!