Last weekend we went to the Tennessee Aquarium which is, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite places on earth.
As we were innocently walking through the doorway into the exhibit of seahorses my husband suddenly grabbed my elbow and said, very calmly, “Just keep moving.”
I was instantly alert, because that is his code for informing me that, “HOLY F*&%, THERE IS A SNAKE IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY!!”
Once he had deposited me at a safe distance he went back to check out the snake, because he is a guy, and guys think snakes are cool, and apparently there’s nothing anyone can do to change that. As a matter of fact, when I was telling this story to a friend of mine this weekend he said, “Cool. Did I ever tell you about the time that I kissed a snake?” (Me: Hm, really? Great. Never touch me again.)
There was quite a crowd of people surrounding the aquarium worker who wanted to touch the snake, despite the fact that every few minutes she would occasionally broadcast such helpful alerts as, “Make sure you stay away from its head.”
My husband, of course, was very excited about the whole experience and wanted to tell me all about it when we met up again.
I had a hard time listening due to the fact that he had let the snake coil its tail around his arm, ON PURPOSE, and not only that, but he had actually enjoyed the entire experience.
Me: Why did they make you wash your hands before you touched the snake?
My husband: They wanted to make sure I didn’t give it any germs.
Me (dripping with sarcasm): Oh yeah, wouldn’t that be a shame?
Your story reminds me of a tourist option near Tanah Lot in Bali, Indonesia. While experiencing a local, exotic paradise, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young boy with snakes draped all over him. Tourists were paying him a fee to get his multiple pets draped around them; neck, arms and legs for fun. Of course, it was a priceless photo moment. You could pay for that too! One girl who chose to get covered in snakes had the patience of a saint! I lost count of the reptiles!
Ready? I am gonna freak you out!!!! Okay…here I go!
When I lived in the redwoods some years back…we had lots of friendly snakes. One day, after I picked up my boys from school…we got home and there was a snake on one of our stairs with a banana slug crammed in its mouth.
Now, if you have ever seen a banana slug you know that they are huge (about 8-9 inches long) yellow and slime everything they crawl one!
Are ya still with me?
Well, we were worried about the snake cuz it looked like it was chokin on the slug. So, I pulled the banana slug out of the snakes mouth!!!!! Yep, you read that correctly. I PULLED THE BANANA SLUG OUT OF THE SNAKES MOUTH!!!!!!
My boys were soooooooooo impressed. They told everyone about the rescue!
Snake! yum* Tastes like chicken.
😉
I now have a case of vicarious willies!!!
OK, Lynne, I am speechless, and I think I passed briefly while reading your story.
Snake! yum* Tastes like chicken.
[[gagging]]
Of course, it was a priceless photo moment.
Um, that would not be my first thought 🙂