Compassion for Snakes

Lately we've had to dissuade James from stomping on bugs. I'm not sure where he learned this, but he's been intentionally trying to step on roly-polies and other little critters around the yard. Becky said that yesterday he intentionally tromped on a moth then, after she asked him not to, did it again. He also shows a great curiosity toward these critters, picking them up and examining them. He spent the better part of the morning playing with a little zoophoba worm (that we feed the turtles) in the magnifying-cup that his Aunt Lissy brought him. While I'm glad that James is not afraid of these bugs, it has been a bit of a struggle to see him show so little understanding for the damage to their lives he can cause with a single footfall. Any doubts I may have had about his compassion for animals was quickly put to rest this afternoon.

Yesterday, I brought a garter snake home from one of my research sites, with the intention of attaching a radiotransmitter and returning him home the next day. This morning, James was my trusty assistant as I weighed, measured, and attached the transmitter to the snake. He even held the snake, all by himself, for a while -- and did so perfectly:

11.05.22 -- James with Snake

The final step in processesing the snake involves clipping a couple of his belly scales in order to identify the snake if he's caught again and to collect a small bit of tissue for DNA analysis. While this does hurt a bit, it heals quickly and does not cause the snake any long-term injury. James watched me make the first clip and became very upset, saying repeatedly, "No, Daddy. Leave him alone!" I tried to explain to him that it was OK, but the sight of me hurting the snake was just too much -- he repeated again and again, "Leave him alone!" His compassion for this creature left me incredulous -- he was adamantly and forcefully protecting the snake from harm. Of course, I stopped my work and let us all take a break. As he was defending the snake so ardently, I looked at my boy in the eyes and felt what was not only pride but admiration. And here I thought I would be the one teaching him about snakes.