So, remembering that Ken used to work in the herpetology building at the Oklahoma City Zoo, I called him outside. We looked at the poor guy--s/he was really beautiful, black with an iridescent blue sheen--and went back in for heavy work gloves and scissors. He said it was "probably a rat snake" and definitely not poisonous.
With Ken holding the snake and me cutting, we freed most of the net. There was one section tightly wrapped around the snake's body. Ken said, "If we don't get that, he'll die when he sheds his skin or tries to swallow something too big to fit through. Of course, I felt awful. I'd put the net out there and I hate to see any animal die needlessly. Plus, I like snakes.
Fortunately, Ken is brave and held the snake a good long time to allow me to snip close to the snake's body. Ken was bitten a couple of times but don't worry, Mom, we put on plenty of antibiotic. Finally, I snipped the last of the netting away. The snake sensed the total freedom and writhed harder. Ken let him go and he rapidly slithered into the nearby bushes. There seemed to be a bit of a cut around the area where the tight netting had been, so we hope no infection gets in and the snake is fine.
We came back in and sure enough, it was a rat snake (see the picture).
2 comments:
Not a king snake? My former partner and I had one as a pet long ago. It was very cool, and it actually worked out well with the cats. :)
Ken says they're both similar snakes (he worked at the herpetology house at the Oklahoma City Zoo when he was in high school).
I'd love to see more of them around, to eat the rodents and because I adore snakes. I can imagine they get along with cats--they have a lot in common (beautiful, intelligent, love to eat rodents.)
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