Texas Blind Snake!

*  This is an oldie from An Austin Homestead which has been getting a lot of hits lately. It must be blind snake season back in our old stomping grounds! We may be sadly lacking in micro-snakes here in Oregon, but these novel little critters are worth reading about.  *

Sometimes the most fascinating wildlife is found inside your house!
I was making dinner last night and heard the husband call out from the bathroom:
“What is that, is that an earthworm? a millipede?”

I don’t know about you, but the subject of ‘worms’ being found in bathrooms kind of gives me the willies. Sorry. I ran into the bathroom and we were both suddenly aghast:
“It’s a snake!”
Very tiny, ever so wormlike, but definitely squiggly in action like a snake. Check it out:

Sadly, my macro setting had a hard time focusing on this itty bitty guy – plus i was on the shade side of him. But still, you can totally see its scales, its tiny practically nonexistent eyes.

So awesome.

Andy caught the little fella and put it into my raised bed, whereupon it squiggled its little newly born self into the soil. But one has to wonder: if this (according to the Audabon book we researched the blind snake in) is in fact a newly hatched snake: are there more eggs hiding in the bathroom? And how the heck did it get there? Did the mama snake come inside and lay eggs? Was this little hatchling so blind and confused it thought to make some long travel into a house from outside? Was he stuck to my foot?

The questions are endless. I love that i’ve turned my suburban yard into a National Wildlife Foundation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat and can enjoy the pleasures of crickets wandering inside and tiny alien-like snakes saying hello in the bathroom.

* Since originally posting this, i have received tons of comments from readers who have shared similar Blind Snake appearances in their homes. Apparently the mama snakes like the dark, cool pipes and ducts in our homes due to the incessant A/C use down south. If you find a blind snake one year, the chances that you’ve got an annual event on your hands are pretty high. I sadly have also received comments about readers being frightened of the snakes and squishing them. Note to those of you back south: If you find one of these (or many of these) snakes in your house PLEASE don’t kill them or give them to your cat. Blind snakes are important soil conditioners and eaters of bugs. Place them in your garden instead of squishing them!

What’s the creepiest or most interesting critter you’ve found in your house??