06/22/10

Warning: This post is about a little boy and a snake. Do not be alarmed, but please find it interesting reading. :)

On Sunday when we went to our side yard to take a couple of pics for Father's Day, Steve found a black snake in the flower bed. I am not a fan of snakes, but I also understand a black snake will not hurt you and they can help rid off other rodents and such that can get around or into your house. We usually let them go their merry way.

Unfortunately, this black snake got caught up in some old deer netting Steve had put out around some of his plants to keep the deer away. Wesley was amazed by the snake, as he is with most all creatures, and wanted to free it. At that time we had to get on to the next place and Steve said he figured it would eventually get out of the netting on its own.

Wesley went outside to check on it yesterday. It was still entangled in the netting and was having a hard time releasing itself from it.

Wesley was now on a mission and he tried to free it. I didn't mind him working to free this snake because I knew it couldn't harm him because it wasn't a venomous snake. The head was what was caught so badly so the tail was the only thing he really pulled on. I did, however, caution him to not get too close to its head when it was getting freed because it could still bite him with being scared.

He started with just trying to physically grab its tail and pull it out. That didn't work so well. Then he began to use his golf club, with me watching, to try to free the poor thing. (I can say "poor thing" because it really was caught tightly.) It just wasn't budging and we knew we would have to cut some of the netting from around the back of its body in order to help free it. Steve decided it would be OK until we got back from the errands we needed to run.

Well... unfortunately for the snake, our errands ran a little too long. It died while we were gone. Wesley was rather upset and decided he still wanted to free it from the netting. This is where the pictures take over:

Please remember this is a DEAD snake.

He used an old pair of scissors to try to snip away the netting.

Our dog, Boogie, was not so happy about this snake. She kept barking at it and sniffing it. It was kind of nice to know she saw danger and wanted to protect us.

I realize this may cause some of you to have issues, but I couldn't resist photographing the head of the snake. AGAIN, IT IS DEAD AND THAT IS WHY I COULD DO THIS. :)
Notice its teeth. I continue to be marveled at God's Creation.

There really was beauty to this snake. Wesley kept rubbing the skin and talking about how pretty is was. When he flipped it over we saw the beauty of the underside.... it reflected a prism-like shimmer!! The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a nice surprise to find.

Wesley was very sad this snake died. We found out after he freed it from the netting that we would not have been able to help it when it lived because it was wrapped up too tightly. Wesley took it out back and threw it in the woods away from people so it wouldn't scare anyone.

I know most of you may think I was crazy to allow Wesley to check out this snake and free it. I saw it as an opportunity to not allow my own fears to rule my son. We discussed at great length that we are to respect snakes and use caution when seeing them and that if this had been a venomous snake it would have been killed.

However, that is how Wesley learns best..... by going out and touching/feeling/handling something that he can experience. As long as he was safe, I knew there was nothing wrong with him freeing it so He could learn something more from God's Creation. Even though I didn't care to touch it, I still learned something from the snake that I didn't know before.

The best part.... my son taught me.