SNAAAKE!!

A couple of weeks ago littlewho was playing outside and came running into the house yelling, "a BIG snake, a BIG snake!" (as opposed to the hundreds of little garter snakes we see around here). Dh went outside to look and there was a snake hiding in the block retaining wall behind the house. Littlewho had been playing on the wall and heard a rustling sound and looked down into the blocks and saw the snake. It appeared to be a Blacksnake so, unlike my big, brave, rugged, fearless daddy who shoots every snake he sees, we left it alone. (Dad says NO snake is a good snake).

Yesterday, we were outside again, minding our own business when we looked up and saw the snake. With a quick 2nd look, we realized there were actually 2 snakes entwined together. If you know anything about snakes, you know this is their mating ritual. The snakes were entirely too busy to mind us so we were able to observe them for hours (apparently males snakes REALLY enjoy mating-DUH!, and keep the females attached to them for a very long period of time). We proceeded to learn more about snakes and their mating habits--homeschool moment--and discovered that these were Speckled Kingsnakes, not Blacksnakes. Kingsnakes are good snakes to have around. They eat other snakes, including Copperheads and Rattlesnakes whose venom doesn't affect the Kingsnake, and they eat rodents. We also learned that Kingsnakes are constrictors, they inject poison into their prey and then squeeze them to death.

Littlewho was "petting" the snakes and shouted "EW!, They're having a baby!". Upon closer inspection I did see that something red and ugly was coming out of the male and penetrating the female. Hmmm, could it be? Yes, snakes have penises. How else would they get the job done? I don't know what the female counterpart is called but it was a strange sight, something I had never seen or thought about before. Littlewho was disgusted and didn't want to watch them anymore so we gave them some privacy and got back to gardening............