Friday, August 20, 2010

Newie ... A Snake Tale And A Visit From Sara

Last June, when the vastness of summer unemployment stretched out endlessly before me, I took my classroom cornsnake "Stewie" home.
Each summer, Stewie goes home and lives on my porch until late August signals the return to school.

This summer, Stewie found a spot where the duct tape securing the top to his aquarium was loose, and in no time so was Stewie.
He has not returned and since PFHQ is snake heaven as far as habitat goes, I think it may be awhile before the one meter long Stewie shows up again.
I miss him, but I'm actually happy for him also.
He did a great job as snake ambassador in my room, but maybe it was time to just be a snake.
I can relate.

In the meantime ...

My secret girlfriend, Sara N. Dippity, sent me a replacement ... just as school is about to fire up again.

Meet "Newie".
A few days ago, some student government kids were here at school helping the teachers get ready and they found this little ratsnake with his tail stuck in the building door.

So of course they sought me out.
I am the critter go to guy at our school ... how weird is that?

"Mr. FC, Mr. FC! There's a baby ratsnake in the hall!"




We walked back down to the entrance door where Newie had his caboose smashed flat between the heavy metal doors and the threshold.
I opened the door and grabbed him for a look-see.
The door had flattened a section an inch or so from his tail tip, but he seemed frisky enough as he bit me again and again.
He got an A for effort, but his teeth are too tiny to do any harm so I ignored that while I inspected his injury.
It seemed far enough back that nothing vital had been injured, so I placed him in a small critter cage in my room.


The good news two days later, is that he seems to have recovered just fine. The flat area isn't flat anymore and he's full of snakey fiestyness as you can see in these pictures.


We are going to be great friends.


22 comments:

Barbie~ said...

He's absolutely beautiful! Congrats on saving the next classroom ambasador. It will make a great story for the kids!

Dani said...

Newie is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!

Sharon said...

Isn't he precious? *shudder* LOL welcome, Newie!

The Florida Blogger said...

FC, friend to corn snakes everywhere:)

Anonymous said...

Hi FC,

Welcome to Newie! He looks like he's screaming at you in that last pic "WHAATTT......"

patio

Thunder said...

Well of course you would be the school's critter gitter guy!

I can see that I'll be getting a refresher course from you on species nomenclature over the next few years too! ;-)

Dani said...

Perfect colors too.

SECRET PEPPER PERSON: said...

He is adorable. I laughed so hard at the last two photos.

threecollie said...

Perfect! Sara is good to you.

kevin said...

Ferocious.

Island Rider said...

Hopefully, he will calm down and be a good classroom snake instead of trying to attack the kids! He is beautiful though.

Sayre said...

He probably didn't realize that you FREED him from the big metal jaws and weren't the one biting him in the first place. What a cutie!

Ericka said...

poor little guy. he's so furious, and it's so ineffective. i feel bad for him.

he's beautiful! yay for saving snakes!

and vaya con dios, stewie!

SophieMae said...

Dude! That is one handsome little ssssssssnake! WTG, Sssssara!

Hey, my word today is meskewd. Methinks meskewed. *heheh*

amarkonmywall said...

What a beauty! I'm so glad his tail plumped out again. And hooray for Stewie!

Anonymous said...

You have the best luck with Sara and the cutest snake friends.

Unknown said...

Seeing it out of scale I assumed it was a Burmese python. Here's a look at the drought index in your area. I was surprised to see some dry spots statewide.

R.Powers said...

Great news Newie Fans,
He ate his first pinkie mouse from petsmart today.
That was a big test. No eatie, no stayie.

Also, it's the first day of school tomorrow so posting may be sporadic or later than usual.

Caroline said...

Love his spunk, he thinks he is a Anaconda or something. You really need a copy of "The Day Jimmy's Boa ate the Wash" to read to him!

Have a great first day, we get our new batch of kiddos on the 30th. Rock on, Teach!

kathy a. said...

i'm not really a snake fan, but this one is gorgeous! and fiesty. i gather he is young, and those are puppy bites...

best with the young humans, too!

Aunty Belle said...

yore meadow is lovely..the snake? Not so much--they DO grow, ya know.

Miz S said...

Newie is a handsome little fella. The pictures are hilarious, with all the snakey fiestyness. Hope your first week of students went well. Lucky kids, to be spending time with you every day.