Yesterday while I was mulching the leaves, there was an accident. This little baby snake got caught up in the process. I thought it was actually dead but it wasn’t.
It was however, injured.
The boys were pretty upset by it and decided that we should take care of it, so it can get better.
This little guy or girl is only a few inches long. I wanted to embrace and encourage my kids compassion for even the smallest among mother nature’s creatures.
I pulled an old aquarium out of the basement and set up a nice little temporary home. The goal being to release it in the spring.
I use to have snakes when I was younger so I know how to care for them. I also figured that with the whole Gavin thing hanging heavy on the boys, this may be something for them to focus on.
Since last night, it does seem to be getting better.
Time will tell and I explained to the boys that we may not be able to save it but that we can try.
Even if the boys didn’t know about the snake, I would have done the same thing anyway. I’m soft like that and have a respect for all living things.
When I was a baby we had a very efficent hunter of a cat. She would bring my mother something every night at dinner time for me. Growing up she continued this habit and we had a fishbowl that basically lived in a window in the kitchen to give the poor snakes she brought in half a chance to recover in the evening sun before we released them. She always brought in live things, probably to teach me to hunt for myself. I often wonder how often we recycled the same snake by trying to save it.
@MeganCKitchen that's funny. Good for you though for trying to do the right thing. 🙂
My kids also have learned to have compassion for God's little creatures through interacting with them on our farm. We have had moles, voles, worm snakes, black snakes, baby birds, a baby raccoon (found starving and all but dead–the mother had been killed by a coyote), baby fox, and others. The children have brought in injured chickens for cleaning up and treating cuts, and even tried to bring our baby heifer inside as well because she was lonely, We love babies of all sorts!