Slither Hither

At 4:03pm, I got a text from Venesa that read...

Big lizard in house.
Come home now!!!

And like Bruce Wayne responding to the Batman signal in the dark skies of Gotham, I was off and running! Home in a flash and packed with plenty of jokes to poke fun at my hyperventilating wife.  And I was ready to crack my first joke... until I saw the lizard.  Okay, so she had a point.  At about 16 inches long, this particular space invader was probably double the length of the slimy fellows that we've gotten used to seeing in the yard. And he was in the house.  Ready to make himself a ham sandwich and watch some television. Anyhow, fast forward a few minutes later and Roberto (hey, a lizard that big deserves a name) was scooped up and out the door.

But wait... there's more.

5 hours later, the kids and I arrive home from Awana.  It's already past bedtime and I'm mentally mapping out the optimal strategy for getting them from the van to the bed in 10 minutes or less.  I click the garage remote opener, the light comes on and... bam... right there in the middle of the floor... Roberto the lizard? nope... That wouldn't be nearly as interesting.  This time it's a snake.  And all I could think was... seriously?!  Here we go. I'm back in animal hunter mode for the second time today.  But first things first: Back away slowly... get the kids out of the car... and bring them closer to the snake for a little science demo and discussion.  Hey... we homeschool! No way I'm missing a free science lab opportunity.  One less thing we have to cover tomorrow.  Science lesson? check!

But before I could make the switch from biology teacher to snake charmer, the serpent was around a corner, behind a bookshelf and gone.  Thirty minutes and a lot of rearranged furniture later, still no dice.  He probably slithering between the walls somewhere, and I had no choice but to hedge my bets and assume that he'd find his way out the same way he found his way in.

Sure enough, the next afternoon I walked by the side of the house and bingo... same snake, headed away from the house and towards the swings for a little recreation. I boxed him up (after a photo opp and a follow-up lesson, of course) and helped him on his way.  Through the woods and hopefully far enough from our property that he won't be back for an encore.

Unexpected guests.  Four legs. No legs, and everything in between.  The virtues of living in the woods.