There's a Snake in my Boot

Saturday morning for me consisted of Ibuprofen and Bible reading from my bed. My husband insisted that I acknowledge my throbbing throat and stay in bed for the morning instead of go to church.

As I was reading through 1 Kings, I heard a plastic bag rustle. I lifted my head up expecting to see a gecko crawling through the cracks of my window like normal. Instead to my surprise it was a SNAKE. A dark gray, blue bellied snake as long as my arm but not much fatter than a ballpoint pen.

I jumped out of bed and stood by the entrance to my bedroom as far away from the snake as possible. Without much thought, I ran next door to my neighbor's house who has caught some snakes on campus before. Never mind that I was still in my pajamas. This was an emergency. But of course, no answer. No luck.

I went back into my room and realized I might have made a huge mistake if the snake had moved from where I left him. I did a quick scan to find the intruder. Still on the second shelf of the shoe rack, just winding his way through my sandals. Gross. I called my mom from inside my house. Wifi miracle! (I ALWAYS I have to outside to make phone calls)

She was surprised to get a call from me at that time too.
Me: "Mom! There's a snake in my room!"
Mom: "What?! How big is it?! Where are you?!"

After giving her the run-down and letting her know I wasn't going to get eaten or poisoned, I told her I'd snap a picture and keep her updated. I looked at the time. Probably another 30 minutes before my husband would be back home. And so the stare down began. I wasn't leaving cause I didn't want to risk losing sight of this snake. There was no way I was going to let it freely wander my bedroom.

I went over my options:
1) Throw a blanket over it to keep it from moving all over.
Mom's suggestion, not a bad idea. But what if I miss?!
2) Get him on a broom out of the house.
Crocodile Hunter style. Very brave move. I would definitely earn points from the hubby.
3) Stare it down until my husband gets home.

Option 3 it is. I'm basically pro at killing roaches and spiders, but snakes are another ball game, and although I wasn't in tears, I felt like I was facing a Cobra or a Rattle Snake, and that was enough to keep me on my bed.

Hearing Joey's car come chugging down the hill was music to my ears. He was equally surprised and not sure how to catch the slithery visitor. After minutes of trying to coax him out of the door and a brief moment of anxiety..... "I don't now where he went, I think he's under the bed!" The snake peacefully went out of the door to its real home.

So my friends, if you live on an island you might want to check to see whats making that weird noise. It just might be a snake.

Rachel