Finding an Unusual Snakeskin
In our backyard
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. With the whole neighborhood still sleeping, I was enjoying some quiet time with a hot cup of Nescafe Instant and the Markets section of WSJ.
And then I heard a scream. It wasn’t loud at all, but I instantly recognized it. It was my wife’s, and it came from our backyard. She must have seen something while working on our garden.
I rushed to the backyard at once. My wife, with a garden trowel in her hand, was staring at a spot near the Tomato plant that was about twenty feet away.
As soon as she saw me, she whispered, “Do you see that?” She was pointing at the spot without taking her eyes off.
Yes, I could see it. It was a young snake, about two feet long, shedding its skin. With most of its skin lying outside, the snake was slithering out of the last few inches. It finished the job within a minute, and quickly disappeared behind the bushes, leaving behind the freshly laid skin.
I moved closer and picked up the skin. It was a smooth, scaly, and thin film. Looking at the beautiful hourglass pattern it was covered with, I would say it belonged to a copperhead.
“Why are you touching it? It’s disgusting, drop it!” shouted my wife.
I laughed and waved the skin at her. I was about to drop it when I noticed something strange on the back of the skin. I examined it closely.
Between two hourglass patterns were inscribed a few tiny letters that read-
MADE IN CHINA.
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