Experience 2015: Corn Snake!

Okay, granted he is a small snake.

Granted he was handed to me by a trained naturalist.

Granted I knew he wouldn’t bite

But…

I still, for the first time in my life, held a snake!

His name is Ricky. (Lucy escaped, never to be found again.)

He’s a corn snake, and he lives in the enviromental building at the Bald Head Island Conservancy.

Here are my three thoughts on holding the snake:

• This item is now off my bucket list. Although if holding a snake is on my bucket list, it makes me wonder if my bucket list needs revising.
• I like that I stepped up, and in an instant, gathered the courage to do something that’s scary to me. Hope I can do more scary things.
• Ricky didn’t feel like I expected he would. There was not a hint of slime, and he seemed solid, as if he were happy and confident in his own snake self.

I don’t think I’d be brave enough to reach my hand into Ricky’s cage and pick him up myself. The road to snake handler, for me, would be a long, terrifying one. But I’m now, for the first time in my life, thinking sweet, fond thoughts about a snake. Thanks, Ricky! (And thanks to Emily, our excellent tour guide).

What about you? Is snake handling on your bucket list or are you already a pro?

Want to learn more about corn snakes? Sure you do! Here’s some info from the National Zoo.

Check out this theory on why many humans fear snakes.