Pet Shenanigans

 About 10 days ago, Kai rushed off to early-morning seminary with Victoria in the dark. However, as I was working out and getting ready for the day, I heard a slight thumping sound. I ignored it at first, thinking it was Luke jumping off of Erik's bed. I even thought it was just my imagination since my ear was plugged up and I couldn't hear much anyhow. Well, a little bit later, I heard another sound. This time, I felt like I should check in Kai's room, just in case. 

When I walked into her room, there was Luke, stuck in there with the door shut, twitching his tail and staring at Ross's (the snake) terrarium. I looked over at the terrarium and was horrified! The screen had been smashed in, leaving the terrarium wide open. I quickly threw Luke out and called for Jason to help me fix the screen in the lid of the terrarium and make sure Ross was in there and still alive. Jason confirmed that Ross was burrowed at the bottom of a ton of hay, but he couldn't tell what state he was in. So we fixed the screen, made sure all sides were sealed, shut the bedroom door, and I finished up to leave for work. Jason had to go in to work that day, so he was gone all day. When I returned from work to check on Ross 4-5 hours later, he was still in the exact same place and I felt my heart sink. I was sure he was dead and I felt awful! What was I supposed to do? What would I tell Kai?

I'm not a huge fan of snakes, but I was so worried about Ross and started bawling at the idea that he was dead (while I'm not a fan of snakes, I'm even less of a fan of dead pets) that I built up the courage to open the terrarium and unbury a part of him to touch him and see if I could tell whether or not he was alive. I couldn't feel anything, so I continued crying and panicking. I couldn't reach Jason by phone, but he texted me and I told him my concerns. We decided we didn't know much still, so we thought I should just wait a little longer. I definitely wasn't going to tell Kai until she arrived home from school. I didn't want to distract her from school nor did I want to worry her, but I did say a prayer for Ross.

About an hour later, I decided to put Kai's paintbrushes back in the room that she had let Erik borrow. I purposely did not look in the direction of the terrarium until I was ready to look. When I did, this is what I saw.

Happy Day!

Halleluiah! Ross had peeked his head out and I was so happy! I texted the picture to Jason right away. We decided that Ross had buried himself so deeply under the hay that he was buffered from the weight of Luke falling in on him and doing whatever else he was doing. Ross is so smart!

It turned out that when Kai found out what had happened, she wasn't concerned at all. She said, "Yeah, that's what he did the last two times Luke got in". I knew he had been okay the other two times, but I didn't know the amount of time it was until we knew he was okay, and since I was the one who heard the noises and found him, I felt more responsible. 

Two days later, the day before we received the new top for the terrarium that's hard screened rather than soft, Kai declared Ross missing! She couldn't figure out how, because there was only a very small opening gap on the side of the screen and we didn't think he could fit. Apparently, he could and Albino Corn Snakes are known for being escape artists. I started feeling panicky again and Jason and I took turns helping search her room in all the warm places, without accidentally squishing him underneath something. Even though her door is always closed, a part of me, and Victoria, were worried that he had gotten out of the room. We just didn't want to find him curled up inside our sheets!

When Jason tried to go into Kai's room the next day to look again, Kai said, "No more looking. I think it's scaring him. I have a feeling that he's going to be fine and will show up if we stop looking". Sure enough, the next day, Kai found Ross curled up in a bin in her closet, where she had looked many times. She put him back in the terrarium and she and Jason put the new lid on top. Phew! We were relieved!

While that story was sad, stressful, and exciting and spanned way too many days for that much pet drama, here's a quick one from today.

Jason was putting a package in Victoria's room and this is what he saw.

Victoria's room is always neat as a pin, so the black fur on the floor blew her through the roof!

That cats had gone into her room, which the door is usually open when she's not in there, had a major fight, and then laid on her bare bed (her sheets were in the wash), enjoying the rare sunshine. When she returned, Austin showed her the "surprise" and Jason couldn't stop laughing at her reaction 😂. I wasn't home, so I missed it, but I can only imagine what it was like! 

Pet shenanigans...

The plant was knocked on the floor the same day as Luke had messed up Ross's terrarium. Naughty kitties!

Leia sunbathing today.

Luke staring at Ross today while Kai was in the room.