Snake alert. . .

Now, this is nothing to get worked up about, though it did cause much mirth here the other day.

Miguel, Chiza and Mark were cutting back some of the foliage at Tree Houses the other day (it grows incredibly fast) when Miguel pointed out a snake to Mark (the original king of wusses when it comes to the slithering serpents). Miguel picked up the critter and assured Mark that it wasn't poisonous. No worries, Mark was fine (and he had a machete in his hand) and it was only about a foot long.

Backstory: About five minutes earlier, Chiza thought it would be funny to use a long branch that had been cut down, as a snake on Mark's leg. Mark did jump, but not too high (he is old), but Chiza got a chuckle out of it.

Forward about 10 minutes: The snake that Miguel had found had been transferred to a banana plant. Chiza came strutting down the driveway when Mark asked him to clean out the dead leaves on said banana plant. Chiza looked at Mark like he was nuts and asked a couple of times what needed to be cleared out. Mark calmly said, just the dead stuff.

Chiza, as he is wont to do, shrugged and reached in to clear out the dead leaves. Then he saw the snake. . . and jumped straight up, turned a lovely shade of red and ran. Mark and Miguel nearly fell over laughing while Chiza flailed away with his machete.

The snake survived (it was non-venomous) though Chiza's machismo took a serious hit.