Terrific Tuesdays

A Way Of Escape!

Aren't they adorable? Ever since I knew these creatures existed, I've wanted one--or two!--for a pet. My daughter and I stopped in at Petco and were delighted to find 12 very friendly, playful ferrets! They climbed up our arms as a means of escape, but they enjoyed being held, too! --LKR

Memories Of A City Ant

The sight of flying ants has always intrigued me. Every year, I look forward to this phenomena.

Memories of childhood now flood my mind. As a youngster, I used to play with ants, so it wasn't surprising when my first "pet" became an ant found on a walk with my mom.

This poor, helpless, captive creature was brought to our apartment in Long Island. At my mother's request, it was placed out through a window onto the fire escape while I took my bath. Later, when I couldn't find it, I was heartbroken. My mother reasoned with my four year old mind that it's mother must have called it back home for dinner. That was enough convincing for me! --LKR

Shedded Snake Skin

Jake our fox snake shed his skin, today!!! This is always so exciting because it lets us know he's growing and doing well! I'll liken it to all those well-baby visits us moms--and dads--have gone on with a new baby where we've seen our children's growth on charts.

Snakes are still relatively new to our family--at least as pets. And, Jake is still a new baby to me. Kind of like a first-born, too, since he's of a different species!

It's not quite the same, but reminds me how fascinating it was--and still really is--to watch our caterpillars molt (shed their skin) or pupate (shed their skin for the last time revealing their chrysalis). This said after rearing literally thousands of butterflies for well over a decade. It just never gets old, and it'll probably be the same with Jake! --LKR

Jake will be shedding his skin, soon. Notice the dull coloration of his body and cloudy eyes.

These wide scales are from his belly.
Can you see the face--the jaw and eyes? It's very important to make sure that the eye scales are accounted for. If they are still on the eye(s), care must be taken in removing them so the snake can see and no other problems occur.

Jake the Snake

This particular post is not for the squeamish. It features photos of a feasting snake, and may be upsetting to some folks.

Jake is my son's little Fox (aka Pine) snake. A friend from a local church had found two Garter as well as two Fox snakes in a fence post hole, and rescued them. They were newly hatched and, oh, so adorable! He was giving them away to anyone who wanted one, and releasing any unclaimed. I did my best to sway my hubby in favor of this sort of pet. He gave in to the majority, and we happily brought him to his new home!

Jake is now about a year old, and has grown a lot. He has shed his skin several times, and has nearly quadrupled in size. He now eats up to five pinkies (baby mice) weekly. I've bought Jake fuzzies, but have yet to feed him these larger frozen (but well thawed when offered) mice. My sister and I agree: We love snakes, but just don't like what they eat. We've had mice as pets, and have both rescued and fed baby mice milk with eyedroppers.

Up here in the Land of Curds and Whey (aka Wisconsin), Fox snakes are abundant. In some states, they are considered threatened which is largely due to habitat loss. Their homes are farmland, prairies and wooded areas.

Unfortunately, snakes are still feared and largely misunderstood. Most snakes of the world are non-venomous and are actually valuable creatures that keep the rodent population under control. While I worked at Beaver Creek Reserve, a beautiful specimen was brought in during our staff meeting by two police officers. A concerned citizen spotted it on a playground and called it in. It had been rattling it's tail and a few people feared it was a Rattlesnake, even though one hadn't been spotted in the Eau Claire County area in a long time. (It would be a rare sighting.) Fox snakes will rattle their tails when frightened, and also may produce a musky smell from scent glands at the base of their tails.

Below are photos of Jake eating. It's taken me a while to actually get my "nerve" up to watch him eat! --LKR