We checked Henry for bites and comforted him. I didn't see anything that looked as if it might be a bite, so I took a moment to size up the snake. I had recently heard that some of our neighbors had spotted black rat snakes around the neighborhood up to seven feet in length. This snake fit the bill, it was long and skinny with a thin head, back in color with a whitish belly. Really beautiful and shiny, though somewhat scary as well -- especially if you are barely three feet tall, I imagine.
Anyway, we got everyone calmed down, opened the back door and watched the snake explore our back porch before finally making his way back out into the yard. Eleanor decided she wanted to name it "Eleanor" and Henry thought a good name would be "Henry". Whatever the name, it is somewhere out in the wilds of our backyard.
Edited to add Vince's perspective. He sent this out to a few but I thought it should be included here as well:
A story –
So on Monday, Henry and Eleanor were sick and the kids and I were watching cartoons on the couch while Molly was taking a nap. Henry gets bored with the cartoons after awhile and heads for our screened-in porch to play. After he’s been away a few minutes, he starts crying this really sharp, I’m-hurt-come-and-help-me cry. I thought he must have been stung by a bee, and I rush for the porch. When I get there I see the following snake coiled up next to him. From the crying, I assume he’s been bit. I was totally freaking out and called for Molly, who was very calm about the whole thing. We checked Henry out and he was OK (no bite marks). But it sure scared me. I was feeling phantom snakes crawl across my feet the rest of the day. The snake is a black rat snake, apparently pretty common around here. It’s a non-poisonous constrictor that eats rodents, but has been described as “snappy” and will bite (and can break skin) if cornered.
