Why Not Shout, Snake!!!

Lah dee dee, Lah dee dah. Just another ordinary morning.

We got up, ate some brekkie, (leftovers), played a bit on http://www.barbiegirl.com/

I had to go visit our lovely composting toilet, so duely stepped out the back door...

I didnt even make one step out the door when I almost stepped on this:

I stopped my foot literally 10cm from standing on its HEAD!

Yes, that is my water heater you see in the frame, it is 40cm from my door frame.

A second passed, me, standing with my foot in the air, Mr snake staring me in the eye. an involuntary shudder escaped my lips and I stepped back and shut the door.

Of course I immediately opened the door again to see if it was still there and really real.

Check and check.

Did I freak out?

Did I call for help?

Did I rush my defenseless daughter out the other door to safety?

I called Littletree to come have a look, and got my camera ;)

By then the snake was turning around, and slithering up the side of the water heater. We watched it fascinatedly. On the left, you can see its full length; it was about 2.5M long, and the thickest part of its body was about the thickness of my arm (and I'm not that skinny!)

It wiggled around the pipes at the back of the water heater, twisting in and out. It was mesmerising, watching it go back and forth... Finally, it was totally tangled up around the pipe; I guess it was warm there, and looked like Mr Snake was going to sleep.

He seemed like he was going to stay there for a while (right next to my bathroom window, mind) so I ran next door to see what to do about it. Well, N next door was quite un-interested in it, except to say that its not poisonous and it used to live in the house.

I went over to Joy, to get moral support. She came over and we prodded it and picked it up (and dropped it down the steps - it was HEAVY) until it slithered into the veggie garden. At this point, I could see that while it was a massive and intimidating snake, it was actually old and slow and docile, and could potentially catch the mice that have been keeping me up at night.

So, I let it stay. He curled himself up into a tight coil and went to sleep. Me, being me, I went right to Google my new friend; he is a Carpet Python and not particularly dangerous. As long as he stays out of the house!