Today Bella, Melanie, and myself were looking for bugs in the backyard when I spotted a snake on the hill outside of our fence. I called the girls over and we checked it out. As we got closer I realized that it was hung in some landscape netting so I moved closer so that I could try and free it. On closer inspection I found that it was so tangled that it was going to be very difficult to free. I first tore all of the landscaping netting from around the snake and then picked the whole tangled package up and put him in a bucket. Bella found some scissors and she and Melanie watched as I tried to free the poor tangled snake.
I was really proud of the girls. They were cautious of the snake but not terrified. Both were really concerned about its well being and asked a lot of really good questions about what happened to the snake, what the landscape netting was, and why it was there in the first place.
I worked on the snake for about thirty minutes, cutting away a good amount of netting, and still it was tied in a knot. Rachel got home and that is when the first picture was taken (snake in a knot). Bella found a better pair of scissors and I was able to cut a little closer to the snake's body. Ray was a little scared of the snake at first, but once she saw that it was really in trouble put her fear aside and helped immensely. I don't think I could have freed the snake without her help. It was actually the first time in her life she had ever touched a snake. She held the tail and kept it from wrapping around its face while I held it just behind the jaws and cut away the remaining netting. I could not believe how tightly it was wound around the snake. I actually had to pull parts of it out from under its scales.
Once I got all of the net cut away from the snake's head, Rachel grabbed a pair of tweezers so that I could pull the last remnants out of its mouth. It is so weird how the snake hissed and fought me for almost the entirety of my trying to liberate it; but then after I freed its head it seemed to finally realize that I was helping it and became very docile and cooperative. By that I mean that I tapped it on the chin with the tweezers and asked it to open its mouth and it complied. I did this three times, and each time I pulled another piece of plastic netting from its mouth.
It also seemed to learn my touch. By the end it was very calm while I was holding it but when Bella touched it, the snake tensed and began to coil up. Once she stopped petting it, the snake relaxed again. Both the kids ended up petting the snake and both were very excited at having done so. But more than that, they were just happy to see it free and safe. After pulling up the remainder of that landscape netting, I let the snake go where we found it. It paused for just a moment and then slowly made its way back into the woods. I am pretty sure that it is an Eastern King Snake, but if anyone knows differently please email me and let me know.
This was a great experience; and while the pictures are good, they don't come close to expressing how it actually felt to help this snake.
Snake Rescue Pictures
Reevesville Blog
