Photos of a creature found in our front yard.  Take a look, click on the small black and white images to see the full size color images.

Taylor almost stepped on this worm, it was not a worm.  After a short search of the bushes nearby I shine my flashlight on this white snake.

This photo shows some detail of it's head and it's pink eyes.  We put it in a box and then this bucket.  It was obviously an albino.  But was it dangerous?  No one wanted to touch it.

We thought at first it was a wild, native snake.  A search on the Internet turned up a Lyre snake that looked very similiar in pattern.  But this species is native to southern California and deserts.  A long way from our house.

Check out the tongue on this guy.

The next day and after some more review I guess that it is a very common pet.  A corn snake.  An inspection by some snake experts at the Lodi Serpentarium and they confirm it is a young, albino Corn snake that was probably someone's pet.  Corn Snakes can get up to five feet long, wow.  Taylor thinks it is cool and we start thinking about keeping it.  We give it water and it drinks it all..  Food is next...it is a carnivore.  Not looking forward to feeding it or cleaning up after it.  I am not a reptile person at all but it does seem cute in a weird way, maybe it's story of being young, lost and neglected and in trouble.
 

August 5, 2006 Update:

Feeding a snake involves live rats or mice.  Due to the small size of this snake we have to get very small mice or rats.  These are called pinkies in the pet store.  The snake will need to be fed a single pinkie once a week and is $1.49 plus tax.  The sight of the pinkie in a paper bag is upsetting enough for Taylor and Lisa to refuse to feed or view the feeding.  Stuart and I are up for the task, it's exciting in an animal documentary way.  Here are some very graphic and disturbing photos of the feeding process.  Warning, these may upset you, do not view if you are easily upset or of a sensitive nature.

Click here to see them:  Snake Feeding Image #1,  Snake Feeding Image #2, Snake Feeding Image #3,  Snake Feeding Image #4

The baby snake is not so cute now.  It's been educational for all of us.  I just think it's another mouth to feed and another pet to clean up after.  The snake will most likely go to someone who will appreciate it and not mind the feeding process.