Posting first vacation photo - story included

[DVC Jen]

This is the last photo I took on our last night of our vacation.

We were walking down the sidewalk of the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We had just passed the pool and were at the area where the sidewalk splits to go into Sturdy Branches (the healthclub). My youngest daughter Emily was with me - my husband and our oldest daughter Kylie were tagging behind.

Kylie is terrified of bugs. Emily and I gently tease her about it from time to time. As Em and I were walking down the sidewalk I noticed in the dim light that lines the sidewalk a HUGE worm wiggling around in front of me. I pointed to it and said "Wow - that is a big worm... like the kind my Dad and I used to find in the yard to take fishing".

Emily started to laugh and said "We should give it to Kylie. Yummy juicy fat worm."

I told her that would be mean and I would take a picture of it and later at home we could print it out and put it on her bed.

So today I am trying to process the last 3 days of our vacation. I had done 2 and was looking at the 400+ photos from the last day - thinking - no way- I will do them tomorrow.

Then my eyes skimmed over one - stopped - went back for a better look and I realized it was the worm. I started laughing to myself and decided to click on the thumbnail to see it full sized.

That is SO NOT A WORM!!!

So - anyone know what kind of snake my youngest almost picked up.

I still have the heebie geebies from being that close to a snake. I hate those things.

 

[hjd0411]

Oh Jennifer - I don't know what sort of snake that is! (Mind you it looks like it has on it's "Halloween skeleton costume" on..!! ). I am no fan of snakes - over here the more colourful they are the more deadly they are! Don't know whether that applies in Florida, but I would certainly give them a wide berth no matter where I saw them.
Hopefully it is only a harmless little one on his way home to Mum and Dad!!
Glad your daughter didn't pick it up, though.

Heather

PS I'll keep my eye on this thread to see what it actually is!

 

[ukcatfan]

Don't be too hard on snakes. I love them and have had two as pets. One passed away a few months ago and it was very sad for our youngest DD (6). It was older than any of our kids.

It does not look venomous if that makes you feel any better.

Kevin

 

[ukcatfan]

I think this is your mystery snake.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/fl-guide/Diadophisppunctatus.htm

Kevin

 

[ukcatfan]

It turns out that they like to play dead when threatened.

Kevin

 

[Master Mason]

Sorry Kevin,

The only good snake is a dead snake.... I had a friend that had one in College, I told him point blank, if he EVER brought it in my room he would have a dead snake, and I never went in his after he got it. Just not my thing.

 

[DVC Jen]

Kevin - I totally understand and respect your feelings. I am so NOT a fan of the repile or really the rodent group - but I do not want to hurt them.

We get geckos in the house from time to time and I so do not like them either. I usually scream and run - and someone else in the family comes and removes it. Now the whole time that person is trying to catch it and remove it from the house I am standing at a distance saying - don't it hurt - just get it OUT!

If it hadn't been so dark I would have made one wide path around it - but it was very dark and I only saw the shadow of it with the path lighting making it looks kinda wet and shiny -like those huge fishing worms.

Wasn't until I looked at the photo I had taken with a flash that I realized (ick) it's a snake.

If someone else want to really like snakes - fine - that can be their thing. For me personally - they truly frighten me and make my skin crawl.

 

[Jeninpa]

Yep, completely harmless,lol:

 

[Cricket2]

The kid or the snake?

 

[Groucho]

I guess you wouldn't like that time in Mythbusters where Jamie wore a hat completely full of little snakes, so he looked like some sort of demented Medusa...

One of my sister-in-laws is extremely freaked out by spiders, so I had to show her a photo from our recent trip, the cottage we stayed in had plenty of spiders in residence, one happily hanging out inside the shower. I just stayed out of his way but my wife made me remove him before she'd shower... what a wimp!

 

[jann1033]

we might have heard the shrieks in Ohio if you had picked it up
i don't mind snakes( don't want them crawling up my leg but other than that they are ok) spiders i hate. once we were camping at Fort wilderness and when we took down one of the tents there was a bright, aqua snake pancake flat under it...funny but the girl who slept there was sick the whole trip, not sure which came first the snake or the sickness. the snake was really pretty though. some one found me the name of it and it wasn't poisonous. i know fl. has coral snakes that are but they are black and i think white and red.

 

[ukcatfan]

i know fl. has coral snakes that are but they are black and i think white and red.

Because we also have milk snakes down here, a good way to remember is the saying, "Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, friend of Jack."

Kevin

 

[bostran1]

Maybe its just me but that snake in the first picture looks like those wooden ones you can buy in a gift shop that wave from side to side when you hold the tail in your hand. Are you trying to trick us?

 

[DVC Jen]

Maybe its just me but that snake in the first picture looks like those wooden ones you can buy in a gift shop that wave from side to side when you hold the tail in your hand. Are you trying to trick us?

NOOOOO Honest.

I had no idea it was a snake until I saw that photo where I had used flash. I thought it was one of those huge ole fishing worms. Yuck.