🐍 Year of the Snake

✨️ Master your reactions and examine your feelings. Do not passively endure - transform suffering into strength. Not all pain has meaning. Sometimes, it's up to us to give it meaning through our own choices and responses. True wisdom lies in discerning whether to endure, resist, or walk away.

🔥 We have the power to shape our experiences and find meaning, even in hardship. What is to give light must endure burning. But that does not make us masters over others, only ourselves. You cannot learn to see in the night - but you can sharpen your senses and a new morning is sure to come.

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🐍✨️ Many people believe that the friendly nature of others, regardless of species, is an invitation to carelessness. However, a cautious approach is always appropriate. Just as you kneel before dogs rather than bend over in an intimidating manner, you give even the tamest snake a moment to assess the situation. The power of a good relationship lies in the calmness with each other. I personally don't like being rushed. If something is urgent, just tell me it is urgent and I will adjust my speed. If you tell me to hurry instead, I feel rushed, which can make me irritable.

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Oh no! 🔥✨️ A brand new water basin! Dakota looks super skeptical. How audacious was I in remodeling his home? My corn snake is so sweet, he could never become toxic. And I almost feel guilty about having removed the withered dragon tree that Dakota loved so much. But change is inevitable. Sometimes we have to let go of what we are used to in order to make room for improvement. So Dakota, get your swimming trunks out and have fun! 🩳🐍🫧

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Is Dakota, my corn snake, giving you nightmares?

This is a synthesis of Cherokee stories told to James Mooney in the late 1800s, primarily by Ayúnini ("Swimmer"), a Cherokee storyteller.

🌽 The Story of Corn and Medicine

In the beginning, the world was all water and darkness. Animals lived above the sky but moved to earth when it was formed from mud brought up by the Water-beetle. The soft earth dried over time, shaped into valleys and mountains by Buzzard's wings. When the land was ready, animals and humans came to live there.

Some animals set the sun in the sky and stayed awake for seven nights, granting owls and other enduring animals the power to hunt at night. Similarly, evergreen trees gained the ability to stay green year-round.

Among the first humans were Kanáti ("The Lucky Hunter") and Selu ("Corn"), who had a son. They also adopted a "Wild Boy" born from game blood. The boys discovered Kanáti’s secret cave of animals and accidentally released all the game, forcing humans to hunt ever since.

When Selu’s secret for creating corn and beans was revealed—she produced them by rubbing her body—she and Kanáti knew they would die. Before her death, Selu instructed the boys to drag her body around a circle in front of their house seven times and then across the soil inside the circle. This act would bring forth a crop of corn. The boys, however, only partially followed her instructions, dragging her body twice and clearing just a few spots. As a result, corn only grows in specific places and requires cultivation. Still, the boys stayed awake all night, and by morning, corn had grown. To this day, it takes months to grow, symbolizing the lost ease of life.

As humans multiplied and harmed animals, the animals retaliated. Deer sent rheumatism to hunters who killed without asking for pardon. The Little Deer visits bloodstains to ensure hunters have prayed. If not, it cripples them with disease. Snakes resolved to plague humans with nightmares, and birds and insects created various illnesses. To balance this, plants offered remedies, introducing medicine to counteract the animals' revenge and help humanity survive.

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Snakes become milky a few days before shedding, called "blue phase". This is because a fluid accumulates between the old and new skin, separating them. But why do the eyes also turn cloudy? This is because, unlike leopard geckos, snakes do not have eyelids. Instead, they have a spectacle scale covering each of their eyes.

Today, 4 days after this photo, Dakota has shed his skin and is now climbing around looking for the white mice he is so convinced of.

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Dakota, nine years ago today. Dakota was almost 3 and I was 29. Dakota hasn't changed much, but I'm different now. I find that time can be really confusing. Nine years isn't really a lot, but somehow it is.

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Dakota is the only one of my animal roommates who would most likely never snap or bite. But because he's a snake, people are afraid. A 2008 study showed that the sight of a snake silhouette triggers stress in babies as young as 8 to 14 months old. So it's not something learned, but innate. Other studies have confirmed similar reactions in non-human primates. But the stress reaction does not automatically lead to a fear of snakes. As early as the 1980s, it was recognized that rhesus monkeys only react fearfully to snakes after they have observed it in other monkeys. It was an advantage for our ancestors to be able to recognize a snake quickly and react immediately. For one thing, venomous snakes pose a danger, and for another, our ancestors were also natural prey for giant snakes. But Dakota is just a harmless corn snake that strangles its prey.😇

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A final prayer whispered as darkness consumes.

(I don't really feed my snake live prey)

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✨️ Once every five to six weeks it's time for the ultimate skin care routine. Dakota relies on a full body exfoliation. ✨️

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Watch out! 🐍

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