UPDATE ON THE GARTER SNAKE

Cleaning the basement today, my friend, Danielray, found the garter snake that I thought had left. He was sleeping peacefully behind the furnace. He grabbed it by the tail and took it outside. Thankfully I was upstairs at the time, and didn't see the excitement first hand. Even so, I'm a little shaken.

Looking back, I am glad that I banished my kitty, Matza, from the basement all this time. It was an "abundance of caution" thing. According to my research, if Matza had found and tried to play with the garter snake and if it had bitten her, it probably would have required a trip to the vet. That is not in my budge. So she has sadly been banned from the basement. 

Sorry, Matza. Not yet, Need to make sure there aren't more somewhere. Need to wait for an all clear from Danielray. Better to be safe than sorry.