Snakes...

Snakes. I have always been strangely fascinated by these creatures. When I was little, I loved going to Roger Williams Park and peeking at the anaconda they had there. It was kept in the Reptile house in the entryway. It was always dark in that hallway, so it was especially creepy. I also would get scared in a "happy" way when snakes would show up in movies. I remember seeing "Romancing the Stone" in the theater and there is a scene where Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas are sitting in front of a fire in the Amazon jungle. All of a sudden a long snake sneaks up behind her hanging from a tree. She screamed, he killed it, and voila! Their dinner is served.
I think the thing that was interesting to me was that I never saw one in the"wild", never saw one up close, unless it was at the Science Museum or someone brought one to a school function. Then, I'd get shy and touch it quickly.
The first time I ever saw a snake "up close" was when we were living in Florida. Zachary was very little- 2 or 3. We owned our little yellow house then (sigh), with its big tree, big yard, and newly planted orange trees. There was a wood pile in front of the utility shed. Zachary had a pool set up there and a play area. I'd always play with him out there after breakfast til close to lunch time. One day we were sitting and he pointed to something over my shoulder, "Snake!" he said in his little boy voice. At first I dismissed him, because nothing like that would be in my yard, right? After multiple "Snakes", I turned and sure enough a long yellow and blake snake was sunbathing on the wood pile, just looking at me. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. So, I grabbed Zachary, and we ran into the house. I called John, who was driving a taxi then and would often stop home for lunch. I called and said "There's a snake, and you need to come home NOW!" Of course, it turned out that this snake was not poisonous at all, just a garter snake type thing, but it freaked me out. My hero came home, but the snake was long gone.
A few months after that, soon after Alex was born, I had just put him down for a nap when I happened to look out the front window towards the driveway. Two snakes this time- doing that certain activity that all creatures like to engage in- right there in open. I sighed, closed up the windows, and ran off to the phone. This time, my hero did not come home, but the snakes disappeared again. A couple of months later, we headed north to RI (NOT because of snakes, lol), and didn't see any for a long time. I thought I was cool though, because I had stories to tell.
Since then, I've seen many more snakes. Some were in Connecticut- on hiking trails, in the water at a local pond I thought I might have seen a baby water moccasin, etc... Now here in Minnesota I've seen plenty this summer. About a month ago, we went to Kathio State Park to go fishing. It was really crowded, so some of the kids there were playing in the reeds and found some snakes, more non-poisonous ones, but really long, 4-5ft. They would grab it by it's tail, then let it go and watch it get annoyed. One little girl got too close, and the next thing you know she got bit. It was really her own fault, but it was scary nonetheless. She was crying and that family left.
Then a couple of weeks ago we went camping. During the week we did several geo-caching hunts. When you find a cache, there is usually a booklet to sign, letting the owner know that you have been by. On one particular hunt, we went into this big field with tall grasses. After awhile, we found the cache under a big log. Alex found it- he's always so fast and ahead of us on these things. Anyway, when we signed the book, a lady had written from the day before to please be careful, because her little girl had just gotten bit by a long snake. Yikes! We booked it out of therre, but didn't see anything ourselves.
And so, my fascination continues, from a distance hopefully. I've yet to see "Snakes on a Plane" and doubt I will anytime soon...