Snake on the Loose!

 See this snake here?

It's suppose to be in this cage here.....

It's not.

My oldest son, Tucker, is an animal fanatic.  Totally loves all things animals.  He always has. He especially loves the creepy kind....aka...snakes.  That is a whole other post that I will do one day.

He spends a great deal of his summer here at the creek. 

The creek is next to our house and all kinds of critters are caught there by the boys. During this past summer, Tucker caught a snake for himself and a snake for Sawyer.  They kept the snakes up in their "clubhouse" outside.  They have several different glass aquariums that they keep fixed up for whatever creatures are being housed there. 

The snakes had fabulous homes.  They were constructed and redesigned a million times.  Tucker tried to make each habitat perfect.  A lovely little sanctuary for the snakes.  They were fed frogs, fish, and crawdads.  The delicious meals were caught at the creek and lovingly presented to the water snakes.  The snakes were very well taken care of.

But then, a couple of weeks ago, the temperature dropped.

Tucker ran up to the clubhouse before school and checked the snakes, just as he did every day.  When he got up there, they were barely moving.  He ran into the house in a panic.  The snakes are too cold!  Please, Mom,  please!  Let me move them into the garage.  They are going to die! 

I don't know what came over me.  I agreed to let the snakes' tanks be moved into the garage. 

After school, the boys worked and worked and worked to get the tanks set up perfectly for the snakes.  Tucker was thrilled to be moving them to their new, warmer home.

They were thriving there.  Growing.  Eating. Shedding.  Slithering around blissfully.

Until last night.

One of the edges of the screen lid was left a bit ajar.  Just enough room for the snake to escape.

Into my garage.

Which is attached to my house.

As we search for the snake, I have mixed feelings.  I am aggravated at Tucker for being irresponsible.  I am annoyed that at any moment a snake may appear and frighten an unassuming guest at my house.  And I am sympathetic.  I am even kinda sad.  I feel really bad for Tucker.  Even though it was his fault, he is really bummed that his snake is gone. He apologized several times to me on our ride to school.  He was so mad at himself.  Mad at the snake.  Disappointed at the whole world.

I am hoping that after a bit of searching, the snake will be found and returned to its' little snake sanctuary in the garage.  But, I fear that the snake habitat will remain empty.  I fear that the snake will remain on the loose.  What I fear most about it is not that a snake will poke his head out at me when I least expect it, but that it wont.  I fear that Tucker has pampered this crazy snake all summer long only to have it slip out of his hands.