Why Not? He’s Quiet.

“Hey, buddy, how’s it going?”

“Hi, grampa. Pretty good.”

“What’d you find today? Some good looking rocks? I’d bet your mom would appreciate them. I pick up interesting ones for her too.”

“But you’re a geo ... ? ... something, and you know everything about rocks.”

“That would be a ‘Geologist,’ and I’m not that, I just had a store that sold mineral specimens and learned a whole lot about them. It takes years of school to become a geologist.”

“Whatever. We just hung out by the lake skipping rocks ‘till we ran out. Caught a few turtles too, but we let them go like you said to do.”

“Good. Turtles are special animals and we need to protect them. Frogs too. Did you see any frogs?”

“Yep, lots, but we couldn’t catch any.”

“They’re fast, it’s hard. I can show you how, but you need to let them go . . .WHHOOOAH! . . . what’s that head poking out of your shirt? Stand still until I can see it.”

“It’s a snake, but I don’t know what kind.”

“You gotta be careful, Oliver, there are a couple of snakes around here that’re poisonous. Here let’s ease him out, grab him like this, right behind the head and he can’t bite, but he will coil around your arm and squeeze . . . ahhh, it’s a King snake, you can tell by the dark blue/gray scales with the white bands.”

“They pois’ness?”

“No, buddy, they’re not. But, you’re not bringing that in the house.”

“Why not? He’s quiet.”

“He’s quiet because he’s wrapped around your warm waist, they are cold-blooded so they seek warm places.but, your mother does not like snakes and I think it’s best we don’t test that. We’ll look up the ones that are poisonous so you know. How about a trip to the herpetarium at the zoo? You can see them safely and there’s even bigger reptiles there, crocodiles and some giant lizards.”

“What’s a herpy… what was it called?”

“The word is Herpetarium, it’s a special place to keep and study reptiles, snakes are reptiles. The study of them is called Herpetology. Maybe you can become one if you study hard.”

“I can’t even say it right, Grampa.”

“You will, buddy. We’ll have a time convincing your mom to let you though.”

“Thank you, grampa. I want to learn more about them and I don’t wanna get bit.”

“This King will bite, but his teeth aren’t long enough to do big damage, it could take off a bunch of skin.”

“I don’t wanna take off skin either. Can we just let him go?”

“Get that plastic storage bin and we’ll keep him safe for a couple hours while we eat lunch, then take him back to the lake. He’ll get a car ride.”

“Thanks grampa.”