The Snake Hunter

I was on my way home one morning about 3 weeks ago. Lana was home babysitting while I was running errands and getting groceries. My phone rang as I was driving. It was Lana on the other end. She was out of breath and sounded a little panicked. She quickly said, "Everything is ok." I was not convinced, however. She proceeded to spout out some details about Griffin and a snake. It took me a few minutes to decipher what she was trying to tell me in her panicked state. Here's how the conversation went over the phone:

L: The boys were in the backyard and I was in the kitchen and I look out to see Griffin holding a snake!
Me: Does he still have it?
L: No, both boys are inside now.
Me: What did the snake look like?
L: It was not a little snake, Emily! It was big snake!!
Me: Ok, what color is the snake? (trying to quickly determine if it were venomous, but knowing it wasn't likely to be)
L: It is about two fingers around. It's not little!!
Me: Ok, but what color is it? Black? Brown?
L: Black with yellow on it.
Me: Ok, then everything is ok. It's not venomous.
L: I was cleaning up the kitchen and looked out the window at the boys in the backyard, and there Griffin stood with a snake coiled up in his hands. I thought it was a toy snake. Griffin started yelling, "Look, Lana! A big worm!" I went outside because I thought he wanted me to pretend to see his snake. But as I walked toward him I realized that the snake was moving! It's body was coiled up and it's head was raised up!
Me: (Laughing uncontrollably) I'm sorry I don't mean to be laughing, but I have this vision of Griffin standing proudly in the middle of the backyard with his "big worm."
L: I'm still shaking. It scared me to death!
Me: Did the snake bite him or did he just drop it?
L: I yelled, "DROP IT!! DROP IT!!" and I think it scared him so badly that he jumped and dropped it. I got both boys inside and locked the door.
Me: (Still laughing) Ok, I will be home in about 5 minutes. Take a deep breath. I will be there soon.

The king snake that Griffin caught. It was about 2 feet long. Fairly small for a king snake, but big enough to upset the babysitter.

Later, when BJ got home from work, he went in the backyard and actually found Griffin's "big worm." BJ caught it and put it into a plastic box so we could watch it for a little while before he released it into the wetland behind our house.