Snakes on Stephen Avenue

So it's lunch hour and I'm walking down Stephen Avenue, snapping shots of buskers and other interesting folk. I notice a man and a woman taking their snakes out for a bit of air.

The guy had a ball python in one hand and a boa in the other, both a little over two feet long.  The woman had two beautiful corn snakes that she was trying to untangle from a small tree.  

One of the corn snakes figured that if she couldn't have the tree, the next safest place was inside the woman's shirt. Soon the woman was trying to hold one snake in one hand, pull out the other one crawling down her shirt, while both are still twined together at the tails. Suddenly, without asking she thrust one of the snakes at me to hold.

While she's busy with the shirt-snake, I'm looking eye to eye at this orange creature draped in my hand. My brain was zooming back and forth from "I'm holding a strange snake that could bite me any second" to "I'm holding a beautiful critter."  So, to keep us calm, I figured I'd talk to it like I do with my cat.  I got as far as "hi beautiful" when the woman had both snakes in hand.  

In another lifetime I lived in a place that didn't allow dogs or cats. Instead, the boyfriend had a small ball python and a smaller corn snake. The ball python had a menacing stare. I imagined he was contemplating me as a meal when he got big enough. The corn snake was easier to like; milder and very pretty. I've often figured that snakes were cats without fur or legs or personality. Like spiders, I'll respect them if they respect my personal body space.

Before parting, the couple let me shoot some photos. I had the Pentax K-5 with a 100mm macro lens, so I was able to get beautiful depth of field. Editing was done in camera.

Here are some other interesting sightings on Stephen Avenue.

Links:

• All About Corn Snakes

• World of Ball Pythons

• Boa Constrictors - The Animal Spot