When I came on this forum a little over a year and a half ago, someone told me that snakes are like potato chip, you can’t eat just one. Well, who would’ve thunk!
It started in a land not so far away in my back yard. I found a spider that filled up the bottom of a quart jar. I took it to the reptile man at the flea market, just to find out what kind it was. I traded that Carolina Wolf spider for a tour of his exhibit. My daughter and I were hooked.
I got my first snake. White and black Cal King reverse strip. I decided that he needed a mate. I got my second snake. Stripped Cal King, black with a white strip. Man, she was a beauty. I decided not to mate the reverse strip because he had banana in him. Just not my cup of tea. So I started looking for another suitable mate for my female. In the process, I found two Mandarin Rat snakes, I just could not pass up. I had to talk the “better half” into that venture. She loved the color pattern. Yeah. So,in the process of coming up with the money for those two, I found a suitable mate. Another male striped Cal King for my female. All three snakes were to be delivered on Wednesday. Everything going as planned. Wait, BACK UP... On Tuesday the pet store called my wife. Someone had a banded Cal King for sale. Nope, to late. My wife had the seller call me on Wednesday. I told him “Nope, I’m broke, with three snakes on the way. Where do you live?” You’re kidding, five minutes from my house. OK, I’ll come give it a looksy.
Well, Holy Crap!! He had this snake for three months, outside, in a nasty aquarium, no water, no to hide, a little dirt in the bottom, no heat, a dead mice that had been there rotting for over a month, his wife wanted to kill it, would not let it in the house, and the temps were dropping below freezing tonight.
Needless to say, I called my wife and told her the house payment had to wait. I could not leave this snake here. So, four snakes in one day. That is how I ended up, so far, with six beautiful snakes.
The moral of this story is…. If you open a bag of chips, don’t just eat one. Pick up the whole bag and take it with you around the party room. It is all about the adventure along the way, trying to get to that last chip!
Illustration coming soon.
DAVY HANCOCK
