Little Herpetarium of Horrors

Objective:  to freak out Aunt Jamie

The Location:  the Herpetarium

Mission:  Accomplished

I woke up yesterday with a whole morning and afternoon of unscheduled time.  What should I do?  I convinced Roxy that we really needed to take Aunt Jamie to the zoo, just to see what she would do in the herpetarium.  There are many foul things at the zoo, but in my opinion the snake house ranks at the very top.  Roxy was intrigued by my agenda, so she agreed and off we went.  Jamie did not get to vote on this - she just had to spend the day with us, no matter what.  I thought I was up to the challenge, but alas...

So, the zoo is full of noises, peoples, and smells, but there is a really unique aroma to the herpetarium.  Not the animal poo smell, or the pachyderm smell, and you are indoors in a dark house with lots of corridors and everything is very, very quiet.  Until we get in there.

A fear of snakes is a long standing tradition in my family.  My grandmother would not even say the word "snake", but would refer to them as "one of those things."  She had to give up watching Little House on the Prairie because of the sudden emergence of snakes - on a weekly basis.  I happen to know that the snake house will be a real challenge for my sister and a challenge for me as well.  So begins our journey...

We got off to a good start, the murmurs of "oh gross" were mild and the snakes were not too disgusting.  Some of them are even pretty.  And then you start seeing the snakes that are all tangled up with each other, and that is pretty nasty.  And then you see some snake rising up, slithering, and you know that it is the devil.  We start walking through the corridors rapidly because the snakes are getting a little bigger.

We finally hit the home stretch - just two more hallways to go.  And then you find yourself up against the glass with the biggest snake you have ever seen and it stinks and it is moving.  Now the Davis girls are gagging.  And the next snake has a giant lump in the middle of it, where it is probably digesting some small possum or a family of squirrels.  And now the Davis girls are covering their eyes with their hands due to the enormity of the creature straight out of Harry Potter.  And then as you make the last turn, you see a snake that has a diameter about the size of your own waist.  And both Davis girls are running out of the building, as we hear Roxy in the background saying, "Oh, isn't it cute!"

We Davis girls have failed the Herpetarium of Horrors, but we did accomplish the mission of freaking out Aunt Jamie.  And me.  We have no pictures to commemorate this event, but we laughed so hard we cried.