They didn't cover this in orientation...

So Jennifer and I were doing a speech session with Ben when Zach came and told us that there is

something that looks like a snake in the bathroom. We went to go check it out, and sure enough, it is a snake. Just an itty bitty one, but a snake nonetheless. Steve arrived home JUST then so we called him in, and he proceeded to check it out. He and our helper agreed that it was a baby reticulated python. So Steve decided to pick it up. He squeezed it just behind the head so it couldn't bite him and picked him up. At first that went ok, but then he was so tiny that he managed to swivel his head and chomp into Steve's finger! Steve threw him down really fast and stomped on him. The bite drew blood so we went to the www to see if we could confirm that it was a python and not something venomous. Thankfully, Steve never reacted, and the markings really look like a python. So, big relief, right? Except we now have to figure out 2 things - 1) how did a baby python get in the bathroom? and 2) WHERE IS THE MOMMY??? We came up with a couple of possibilities of where it came from, and chose to believe the one where it caught a ride inside on the trashcan -- though we were highly suspicious that it had come down through the tiny holes around the drop door into the attic.

Well, that night we were all hanging out in the living room & office area and heard a loud THUMP followed by a series of loud flopping noises coming from the attic. It was immediately obvious that whatever it was that had made that thump is larger than a rat - or even a cat. Possibly another large monitor lizard like we had up there before (should be some pics under "Our Home" posts listed on the left panel). Then we all realized that whatever it was, it managed to move from there without any of us hearing any footsteps... probably cuz whatever it doesn't have any feet to step with.... O FUN. So it seems as though the mommy python has had some babies in our attic - and apparently just caught a rat for their supper.

Ok, so Steve decides that he is going up there to take care of it so we don't have to worry about it anymore. I wanted to know what the contingency plan was if the snake grabbed him and he couldn't come back down. Now remember, they didn't cover this in orientation so he had to think on his feet here - he said he would just kick his way down through the ceiling, then we could help him. I got a mental image of me and the 2 volunteer ladies who are with us right now trying to pry a python off of Steve after he has crashed down through the ceiling... or better yet, the 3 of us heading up into the attic to do that when he CAN'T manage to "kick his way down through the ceiling".... But I asked for a contingency plan, and I guess I got one. I really wish they had covered this in orientation. Anyway, so he got decked out and started up the ladder into the attic - but then asked for a mirror so that he could check around the edges of the hole to make sure he didn't come up right on top of the thing if it was hanging out by the opening. :)

He looked around up there very thoroughly but determined that either she had already left or was hiding under the eaves where we can't get to her without tearing out some paneling. So we chose to believe (there we go again) that she was gone.

The next morning, Jennifer (the speech therapist) came and knocked on our door at 6:15 - "Um, there is a snake in the office." Not something you wake up to everyday. Sure enough, it was definitely a sibling of the one we found in the bathroom the day before. At that point we looked up Reticulated Python Eggs on Google Images and discovered much to our delight that there are MANY eggs in a clutch.

So we seem to have a large python living in our attic AND a recently-hatched batch of pythons loose up there. And somehow these itty bitty things are able to find a way down here... Needless to say, we are all wearing shoes inside now and putting our glasses/contacts in before using the bathroom in the night!

We are still trying to figure out the best way to deal with our python infestation problem. We have a few ideas, but we are open to suggestions! It would be REALLY nice to take care of the problem, before they all get bigger, if you know what I mean. If only they had covered this in orientation...