I went next door to sit with neighbor and watch the kids play. We walk over to her old garden, now a holding bed. We notice a long snake, brown and tan in the compost bin.
Now - over the weekend (at camp) I hear that the Easter Diamondback has been seen in more suburban areas. OK - right color, kind of small in diameter, but I have a curious 7 year old (aka DD) and an exuberant 5 year old (aka DD's Best Friend and next door neighbor). Sh*t!
"get the kids inside and get animal control" "I think it might be a diamondback".
She gets her oldest (19 and an Eagle Scout) son outside - "color is off, but that varies. Head is round not squared. Kind of thin" (rattlers are husky snakes)
Creep closer - we agree it looks like more like a python - some one's escaped pet? Cops are "tied up" (this is a scary thought), Animal Control is closed for the day. Decision one - take pictures. Duly done.
Lets capture it - get a container with a lid. She grabs a plastic storage tote. "Hey - B..., you're a man - grab it and dump it in"
"NO WAY" "How about a pair of tongs?"
She grabs the tongs, hands them to me as he won't do it, I grab the snake and d*mn it strong for such a small snake. About .5 inch in diameter and 6 feet long. It burrows off into the compost heap and is gone.
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I come home, and start looking at pythons on line. Doesn't look like any of the common pet pythons. OK - snakes of NH on google. There it is - I'm right it is a python (relative) an Eastern Milk Snake.
Guess what I'll bet there are eggs in her compost heap.
Giggle
Cheryl