Snakes & Rats & Chicks...Oh My!

First of all, Uno the snake has found a new home. We took him (her?) to the local nature center last week and they thought he was just as cute as we did! They also thought that since they didn't have a snake like Uno that he'd be a good addition to the animals that they use for kids' programs. The fact that he has is so tiny and also has that "awwww" factor because of his missing eye, they thought he would make a perfect snake for kids who think they don't like snakes. So, now he's living at the nature center and (providing they can get him to eat) we will be able to visit him when we're there. And thanks to the naturalists we found out that he is a brown snake. No wonder he had us so stumped! He wasn't either of the snakes that we usually find on our property. Brown snakes are apparently very common around here, they just aren't seen much because they're so small and tend to stay well hidden. Now if we ever see another one we'll know what it is. Of course he was the first one I've ever seen in all these years, so who knows if we'll ever see one again!

The second happening in the pet department was "the rat accident". Catherine fell a few days ago while holding her pet rat, Cornflower, and the poor rattie was injured. The skin was scraped right off the toes on her back foot and her toes were swollen and red for a couple of days. She's recovering well and her toes don't seem to be broken as we feared, but she sure gave us all a good scare! Cornflower was going stir crazy by the time we took her out this morning because she was confined to her cage until her foot healed enough for her to put her weight on it again. That's apparently torture to a hyper, free roaming rat like her, but she survived and is extra happy to be held and cuddled now.

And just today the chicks we've been waiting so long for finally arrived. We were just getting ready to head out the door for a day at the park when someone knocked at the door. I was expecting the chicks this week, just not TODAY. They were supposed to call the morning they came in so that I would know to expect them and not leave for the day like we were about to do. Anyway...here's the sight that awaited us as we pried open our cheeping box:

Aren't they sweet? It's been difficult to keep the kids from holding them ALL the time, but then the little fluff balls are rather irresistable. The two bantams get held the most of course. Cameron's Japanese bantam is particularly fond of him. She falls asleep in his hand almost as soon as he picks her up and starts rubbing her tiny little head, and she eats right out of his hand. He named her Sakura because she's sweet as a cherry blossom. We named all eight of them flower names - Lily, Daisy, Orchid, Poppy, Rose, Sunflower, and Peony -so I sure hope there are no surprise roosters in the bunch! We've spent a lot of time today just watching them go about their chicky business. I'm sure that in a few weeks we'll be ready for them to go to the barn, but for the time being we're enjoying watching them and trying to figure out their personalities. Poppy the Polish crested is definitely the quirky one of the bunch, but then that's why we picked a Polish crested. We like quirky. Lily the Easter Egger is already showing top hen potential. She tends to walk all over the other chicks (literally). Catherine's silky bantam is Rose and she's a sweetie. I think my favorite is probably Daisy the Golden Laced Wyandotte, but I'm not sure because they're all so cute. The others all have very similar markings and personalities so they're difficult to tell apart unless they're all right together. I've just been calling them the triplets and probably will continue to do so until their feathers come in and I can tell them apart more easily.