On July 13th at about 10 a.m., our 1st of 7 snake eggs hatched. And slowly throughout the day the remaining 6 hatched out. We were the proud new mamas for these little snakes, which measured about 12 inches long.
Thinking that since they would be born into captivity, they might be somewhat tame and immediately used to us and quite possibly... not strike at us. However, let me tell you, these little baby black racers came out of the egg with a striking force. Nature. My son was quite crushed, not afraid, just sad that the snakes wouldn't give him a chance to be their friend. However, snake #5 was quite pleasant. He (or she) would sit on his hand and wouldn't bite and Stone was in his own little heaven.
We did have a little bit of trouble with Snake #7. He stuck his head out of the shell and then sat there for quite a long time. He looked fine and so I told Stone he wasn't to touch him and to let him enter this world all on his own. For once, he listened, and he watched intently to see if he'd moved. An hour went by, nothing. Another hour, nothing. So I told him if he didn't move within the current hour, he had my permission to pick it up and break the shell. Well, that happened and when it did, the snake was dead. Very strange because it looked completely healthy and content. (Little did we know he had been dead for all that time.)
I made a deal with my son that he could keep the snakes for 5-6 days and then release them. He enjoyed them so much. Every day, several times a day, he would go outside and pick them up...Catch them tiny lizards to eat, olding them, letting them crawl all over him, letting his sister hold them. It was quite a site. I enjoyed every minute of it. However, on day 3, when Stone woke up, he noticed that all but 1 of the snakes were missing out of his cage. He had forgotten to zip the screen enclosure he was keeping them in. Now, mind you, the night before I told him to MAKE SURE that the snakes were secure. He assured me that there was NO WAY they could get out. However, he was proven wrong yet once again by his nagging mother.
And then there was one. Unfortunately this was not the "nice" one. It would strike at him often, but once he got him in his hand, the snake would sit pretty still, wrapping his tail around one of Stone's fingers. Stone got quite friendly with the snake, catching him food: tiny baby lizards that were all over our patio and yard. The snake seemed quite content...
Now, for the other 5 that were loose somewhere on my patio... that's been a real mystery. However, 2 days ago I was watering some of my plants and found a complete snake skin in the rocks on the patio. So I guess they are still there...growing. One day I fear that I will have 5 large snakes overtaking my patio. Like the movie "Snakes on a Plane," it'll be "Snakes on the Patio."
Well, time was up for Stone and the snake and it was time for the him let the snake go out into the world. On Friday night, we released him into the yard. He moved so quickly that we lost him within seconds. However, I know we'll be seeing them ALL in the future.
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