The Snake Story

I was going to title this post “Monty’s Python” but some of the guys in the office suggested that may be a little misleading. But I thought it was clever so i told you about it just now anyway.

So our friend Lindsay was over watching our son while Courtney and I went out for a V-day dinner. When we returned she told us a story that is still haunting me a little, but the teaching illustration is AWESOME so I thought I would share.

The Story: Lindsay’s friend Jane (no idea what her real name is) had a pet snake, a python, for about 6 months. Now, this particular python had been domesticated its whole life and she had been the owner for most of that time. The snake had free reign in her apartment. Jane allowed the python to hangout around the house, even sleep in the bed with her. Observation: The snake started out sleeping coiled up at the foot of the bed, but recently it had begun to lay stretched out alongside of Jane. Of course Jane took this to be a sign of comfort the snake now had with Jane and Jane with the snake. Jane took great care of the snake, feeding it regulary and doing everything else a good snake owner would do

Well, recently (like last week) Jane noticed that her python had completely stopped eating. It actually stopped eating for 3 days straight. Jane got worried of course. She was afriad the python was sick and was going to die. So she took it to the vet. Here is where things get interesting

When she explained the situation to the vet,  without an ounce of hesitation the vet said to her “we’ve got to put this snake down immediately.” “WHAT!?!” said Jane. Obviously upset because this was her pet. “WHY?!?” she of course asked the vet. The vet responded “Because this python is preparing to eat you.”

WHOA!!!!! Did the hair on your skin just raise up like mine did the first & second time I heard that? IT WAS PREPARING TO EAT HER!! Apparently Pythons, before they attack & consume large animals, actually startve themselves and measure themselves against their potential prey to see if they are long enough to eat them, then they strike.

The Lessons:
1) Don’t get a pet python. I feel like that one is pretty obvious

2) The vet in this story is the friend you need in your life to tell you when you are doing something colossally stupid & life threatening but you cant see it because you are blinded by your closeness, and emotional commitment, to the situation. If you dont have any friends like this, get some & be humble enough to listen & heed their advice. Jane didnt ignore the vet’s recommendation and return home with the snake. She heeded his advice.

During the time I was writing this some party pooper tried to tell me this story is not true. I can only assume he is wrong and this story is completely true. Regardless, its awesome.