Road Cruising with the Kidlet...

[tyflier]

So...Kaylee(my girlfriend), Zayne(my daughter), and I were sitting around the house being bored, watching the tube. We decided that Zayne deserved the chance to go road cruising with us, so we grabbed the hooks, the flashlight, a couple pillowcases, and hopped in the truck.

We drove around for about an hour and a half...nothing...not a dang thing. Not even a single dead snake on the road. Zayne was getting bored, Kaylee and I were(yet again) wondering what we were doing wrong. So I started singing a bunch of old camp songs from my childhood, and we decided to head home.

Driving down a fairly major road, singing away at some ridiculous kids camp song that I still can't believe I remember...SNAKE!

Crawling across the road was a beautiful black and white Cali king. Kaylee was quick-thinking, and managed to straddle the poor guy at about 50MPH without hitting him, and slowed to a stop. Truck still moving, I grabbed my gloves and headed out the door to get him before somebody else came up behind us and killed him.

He was big, healthy, and in GREAT shape...not to mention simply beautiful!

Anyhow...I brought him home. The thought was...if he eats F/T...we'll keep him. If not...he gets released back where we found him. I probed him as male, and he is absolutely the calmest wild caught king I have ever encountered. He musked a bit at first, but hasn't once even reared back in a strike pose, let alone bitten. He took two F/T mice, still wet, right from the hemostats, first thing this morning without any prblems at all...he's definitely a keeper!

Here's a couple pics of my new addition, Checkers:

This was Zayne's very first road cruise/herping trip. She is thrilled with this guy...as are Kaylee and I.

Thanks for looking!!

 

[dpreston66]

Great find and cool pics! :crazy02:

 

[dndvictory]

Great pics. I love Cali kings and have one of my own, but not quite that large yet.

 

[ratsncorns]

Sweet find!! Talk about good luck

Really cute pictures of you and your daughter!

 

[Dave123]

Very cool story and awesome new snake! Its cool that you found something on her first cruise!

 

[Lynnea]

Beautiful cali, what a lucky find! Your daughter is precious!

 

[Tula_Montage]

Awesome find Chris, congrats

 

[bekers71]

Great find! But your little girl steals spot light. She is beautiful.

 

[Jay@PJCReptiles]

Great find Chris. I am sure Zayne absolutely enjoyed herself. That King is a big guy at that. I wish we had stuff like that up here.
Jay

 

[tyflier]

Great find Chris. I am sure Zayne absolutely enjoyed herself. That King is a big guy at that. I wish we had stuff like that up here.
Jay

Yea...he is pretty big for a wild Cali. The ones around here are usually about half his size. He is in incredibly good shape, as well. Not a single scar or scratch, save for the very tip of one scale has a small nick in it...that will disappear after a couple sheds. Judging from his size, I would guesstimate that he is probably around 7-10 years old...which is retirement age for wild kings 'round here. And given that we found him crawling across a relatively busy road, and we were passed by at least 5 or 6 cars while taking the pictures...he probably would have been killed last night if we didn't find him first.

He took 2 F/T mice, still wet, straight from the hemostats, without any problem this morning. My daughter named him Checkers, and we have decided to keep him and add him to the collection. He is a gentle old grandpa, and he deserves to live the rest of his life in peace and comfort, without crossing roads or hunting rattlesnakes for food anymore. He seems happy to be handled and takes it fully in stride...no musk, no hiss, no defensive posture...just looks up as if to say, "Hey...I remember you...you fed me...". He's a true sweetheart of a snake...

Thanks all for the comments!

 

[Nanci]

I can't wait to see a nice full dorsal shot of him!