Mom, I Think I Just Caught A Snake!

"Mom, I think I just caught a snake!"


Not the words you want to hear from your front lawn...


...and said by your (almost) six year-old son...


...in Thailand!


Unless it is this kind of snake...

Jeshurun with a worm?  No...that would be a snake!

the blind snake of Thailand...courtesy of...my front yard.

This is the blind snake of Thailand.  They are harmless to humans and resemble earthworms.  Jeshurun thought he had, in fact, caught an earthworm to deposit in my basil planters...until he looked a little closer.  This guy clearly had scales, a teeny-tiny, flickering tongue, and the movement of a snake.  Oh yeah...and it "bit" him and "stung" him with it's mouth and hind part (they call it a spur).  He said it wasn't as strong of a sting as the red weaver ant (which is my nemesis...).  He flung him down after a few pricks and we decided to observe him in our bug aquarium.

We think he's about 12-13 centimeters.  And, yes, we love Tigger and Pooh!  :)

By the way, if you have boys and don't have a bug aquarium, you should stop reading this and go pick one up pronto!  It is a must have!  I'll never forget the time that we caught a praying mantis the size of my son's forearm and watched it eat katydids (that we caught for it) all morning...


Ah...memories of our home in the south...


At least the snake we caught today wasn't like this one that Treavor massacred at our home in the south...

Treavor vs. monocled cobra.  Treavor won.  My hero!

Ah...horrible memories...


But we got some cool photos out of it!  Check out this one!  Eew.  I digress...

Moving on...back to today and the *reminding the grandparents* harmless snake Run caught today...


My son is so brave.  He would stick his hand in the aquarium to try and catch that wriggly little thing.  It is hard for me to hold a worm, let alone a snake!  Even Kyla sat mesmerized as we observed the snake.  She is acquainted with all things "boy."  

Anything that interests the boys interests her.  For now!

Hopefully she won't grow up to be as squeamish as I am around creepy crawlies.  We will see.


So, after a quick search on the Internet, we found this video and this article on Wikipedia.  Our snake fit all these descriptions.  We learn something new every day! 


Though, the next time Run finds one, he said he'll let it go.  Apparently, the blind snake eats termite and ant eggs.  We could do with a little natural pest prevention around here.