Snails and snakes

There is a snail in Abi's aquarium -- we're not sure how he got there, but we've been watching him grow for about month now. Recently things have gotten even more exciting: there are three new baby snails in the aquarium. (We were wondering how that was possible with just one snail, but our friend Ben, an expert on snails, tells us that snails can do that.)

This morning, looking at the adult snail, Abi said in a worried voice: "I don't think he's as big as he used to be." She thought a little and added, "I think he's getting old". Why do you say that? "Because I know you get smaller when you get old."

Meanwhile, my mother just adopted a California King Snake (it belongs to a friend of my brother's who is going abroad for a year). A few days ago, Abi and I saw it for the first time -- a gorgeous creature. When the snake wasn't moving, Abi looked at it curiously. But when it moved, Abi's look changed to pure rapture, and she said with utter certainty, "Instead of an aquarium, I want a snake." It really was love at first sight. Interestingly, the snake behaved differently with Abi than with anyone else: several times it lunged at her through the glass (as it would at prey or perhaps an enemy). My guess is that Abi moves more rapidly and frenetically than the grown-ups, and the snake gets agitated from it. Based on that, I'm not sure we're ready for a snake just yet...