The Laundry Room Intruder

I scooped the pile of towels from the laundry room floor. Before I deposited the towels into the washer, a snake fell to the floor. In times like these a person learns how quickly she can move. And how loudly she can scream.

I immediately grabbed a nearby bucket, turned it upside down and placed it over the snake. I hadn’t taken the time to get a good look at the snake, but it was not very large.

Probably a garden snake, I thought to myself.

Most likely harmless. I speculated.

BUT. IT. WAS. A. SNAKE.

IN. MY. HOUSE.

Uninvited and unwelcome.

I called Shane to inform him of the intruder. He was not upset in the least. He even had the nerve to chuckle at my introduction to the snake.

Shane still fondly speaks of the pet snake he had when he was a boy. It boggles my mind. I have had many pets during my lifetime, and never once did I consider a snake to be a logical option. All of my pets have been cute, cuddly and covered in hair or fur. Obviously this rules out a reptile of any kind.

The day seemed long as I waited for Shane to get home from work. I regularly peered into the laundry room to make sure the bucket was still as I had left it.

We live in the middle of a subdivision. How on earth did a snake come into my home? I wondered.

I thought of the time I saw a dead snake down the road. I remembered the neighbor across the street finding a snake in his garden. Clearly I knew snakes were nearby, but it had never occurred to me one would find entry into my laundry room.

Shane eventually arrived home. I followed him throughout the house, recounting the snake discovery, until he removed the snake from the house.

Shane confirmed it was a garden snake and it was harmless. He even seemed to enjoy meeting the snake. I was happy to allow them to spend uninterrupted time together and did not join them in the relocation trip.

As time passes, a person may forget a traumatic event, or at least does not expect it to reoccur.

So far, so good.