Neighborhood Snake Sightings in San Juan

How many wives do you know who get to wake their husbands with, “honey, there’s a boa constrictor in the tree outside”?  This morning, wrapped tightly around a tree limb, just above our neighbors’ front porch, slept a boa constrictor.

And perhaps even more remarkable than the snake sighting was the normalcy of the occurrence.  Upon seeing this, I texted our neighbor, Stephanie, who lives in our ‘hood, to share the news.  “Oh cool,” she responded indifferently. “Oscar showed me a baby one the other day.”

Though we may not see giant reptiles on a regular basis, we have had our fair share of encounters with other funky creatures from stingrays to scorpions:

On a recent visit to my folks’ place in Syracuse, we made a trip to the Burnett Park Zoo, a favorite spot from my childhood.  It turned out to be a gesture completely lost on Lucy, who snoozed through the entire afternoon, but Justin and I had fun.  As we made our way thru the antiquities section, we marveled at just how many of those little critters inhabit our own front yard (and occasionally our bedroom) back in San Juan.

Somehow, these critters have become just another part of our neighborhood.  Or more likely, we’ve become part of theirs.