"THE STRANGEST OF CREATURES: THE SNIZARD FAMILY AN
Phyllis Minnitte-Bilbo
Jennie Minnitte-Beiser
34114 Polk Ranch Road
Coarsegold, CA 93614-9503
(559) 683-6001
"THE STRANGEST OF CREATURES"
THE LONG AND SHORT OF THE SNIZARD FAMILY
AND HOW IT CAME TO BE
(A Tale of Two Reptiles)
by: Jennie Minnitte Beiser and Phyllis Minnitte Bilbo
Long, long, long ago, in a far away land (long before countries came to be) as the summer sun's noonday rays and errant heat waves danced across the Tua desert floor, Lillie Lizard scurried out from behind the clump of tall, dry grasses where she’d sought temporary refuge.
Darting from shadow to shadow in an attempt to escape the blistering heat, Lillie seemed to be caught-up in a dance all her own. Her reddish-brown “dress,†splotched here-and-there with grays and yellows, not only blended with her surroundings, but it also made her nearly invisible to any predators, who, too, might be foolish enough to be out-and-about in the noonday sun. Lillie's concern at the moment, however, wasn't about predators; her concern was more about finding a cool, comfortable, permanent place to live.
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Searching first here, then there, Lillie zig-zagged around boulders, pebbles, sand dunes, cacti, and prickly pear bushes—thus far, to no avail. Soon, however, Redtail Hawk's shrill screech as he circled above a nearby saguaro cactus changed Lillie's long-range pondering to spur-of-the-moment reasoning. "I'd better find someplace to hide FAST, or Hawk will surely make his midday meal of me!" reasoned Lillie.
Luckily, just as Hawk's dark shadow loomed menacingly overhead, Lillie spied a wide crevice atop a nearby, large, reddish-brown, irregularly-shaped rock and leaped into it—as lizards often do when startled.
"Whew! Lucky me! That was close! Fortunately for me, Hawk will have to look elsewhere for his lunch today," deduced Lillie as she buried herself in the cool sand, soil, and rock particles that, over time, had filtered into the cave from the crevice above.
"Ah! Cool and safe, at last! Cool and safe, at last!" sighed Lillie as she wriggled about between cool layers of sand and rock particles. Oddly enough, at about the same time Lillie was looking for a cool spot, Sammy, a banded red, white and black king snake, was also looking for a cool, safe spot, for, as with most reptiles, snakes especially can't stand hot sun for long periods of time.
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After several minutes of trying to find an abandoned chipmunk burrow, or rabbit or squirrel hole, or even a rock to crawl under, Sammy found . . . .
Yes, Sammy, too, found a big, irregularly shaped, reddish-brown rock, a rock with a large crevice on top that looked like it might be a cave of sorts.
By now, having had all the sun he could stand, Sammy slithered quickly inside the cave of sorts. Once inside, he found that, sure enough, it truly was a cave of sorts, although it was smaller than most caves would normally be. Large or small, it made no difference to Sammy; he was content knowing he had found a cool, safe spot to wait in until he could be on his way again.
BUT, just as he was settling-in near the mouth of the cave, Sammy thought he heard faint sounds coming from the far end of the cave. Listening intently, now, he was sure he heard someone or something crying.
Lillie, of course, was the source of the crying, for when Lillie realized that she wasn't alone, she became frightened; and, as was often the case, the natural thing for Lillie to do, when frightened, was to hide or cry or both—hide and cry.
Unable to bear the tears or suspense any longer, Sammy yelled, "Who's there? Why are you crying?"
"I'm here," cried Lillie. "I'm an alligator lizard; and I'm crying because I'm scared. Who and what are you?" she asked.
"I'm Sammy. I'm a snake, a king snake," replied Sammy.
"A SNA-AKE! Are you really a snake?" shrilled Lillie. "Are you the kind of snake that eats lizards?"
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"Yes, I eat lizards. I eat birds' eggs and small animals, like rabbits and rodents, too; AND I also eat poisonous snakes, like rattlesnakes," replied Sammy, ever so proudly.
"Oh, how brave you must be to even think about tangling with rattlesnakes, let alone eating them, Sammy!†cajoled Lillie. “Really, Sammy, even if you do eat lizards, I don't think you'd enjoy eating me." "My skin is really rough AND scaly; and, besides, I probably wouldn't taste good, either, Sammy," Lillie added as she buried herself even deeper in the rock and sand particles.
"Ah, I won't hurt you," said Sammy, reassuringly. "Where are you, anyway? What's your name?" asked Sammy.
"My name's Lillie; and I'm in the farthest corner of this cave, covered with lots of rock bits and sand," she explained.
Without so much as a backward glance, Sammy slithered quickly in the direction of Lillie's voice. Still fearful and dreading the thought of meeting perhaps a rattlesnake face-to-face, Lillie again asked, "Are you sure. . . you're sure you're not going to eat me, Sammy?"
"I promised I wouldn't eat you, didn't I?" said Sammy as he thrashed, wriggled, and swished away not only the sand and rock that covered Lillie, but, also, Lillie's concern that he might eat her.
And so it was that after having found a cool, safe place in which to hide, Lillie and Sammy, as might be expected, talked reptilian talk the rest of the day as they waited for the afternoon sun to disappear behind far-off Echo Hill to the west. They talked about each other, their families, their hopes and dreams and about the many other things that snakes and lizards have in common, including the funny and exciting things that snakes and lizards and others of nature’s creatures find to talk about.
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In so doing, Sammy was reminded of the time he found himself among snake-eating cave dwellers and narrowly escaped with his life; as was Lillie reminded of the time when she, while still very young, had strayed far from home—or so her family thought—only to find, after a frantic, full day’s search, Lillie fast asleep in a crevice beneath a nearby rock.
Toward evening, after the sun’s rays had lengthened not only the shadows of every object on the desert floor, but also the earthbound shadows of the clouds overhead, Sammy and Lillie left their hiding place.
Once outside, just as they had during other sunsets they'd each witnessed in the past, they marveled at the sight of the intense blues, pinks and reds, and the deep purple and orange colors of this particular sunset—colors that were reflected in the sky and clouds that hugged the mountaintops to the east and to the west.
As the colors intensified, the sun having spent itself on the sunward side of the mountains to the east, the windswept plain outside the cave entrance, and a nearby spring, slowly disappeared behind Echo Hill’s jagged peaks to the west, leaving behind the cool, grey dusk of evening and two very hungry and thirsty reptiles.
Realizing it would soon be dark and that it was time for him to search for his evening meal, Sammy broke the awkward, pre-departure silence by announcing, "Well, I've gotta go now, Lillie."
"Wait!" cried Lillie. Can't I go with you, Sammy? It's getting dark; and I'm afraid out here, all by myself. Can't I please go with you?†she pleaded.
"Well, I guess so," replied Sammy, without his having given Lillie’s request a split second’s thought.
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Thus, all summer long, and late into the fall, Lillie and Sammy hunted for food, shade, and water together; and together they talked, played hide-and-seek-like games, and generally looked after each other.
Soon, however, the first signs of winter began to appear. The sun's rays gradually grew more slanted and less intense, even as the days waxed shorter and colder and the desert flora began trading their usual spring and summer colors, their greens and yellows, pinks, oranges, blues, and purples, for autumn's varying shades of reds, yellows, browns, and golds.
Desert fauna also readied themselves for winter by growing heavier and somewhat shaggier winter coats and by storing food in every conceivable nook-and-cranny, as had the trees and plant life stored food in their root systems earlier.
By now, Sammy and Lillie sensed that they, too, needed to get ready for winter, for they, like other reptilia and certain other mammals would also sleep the winter through.
To add to their sense of urgency, in the midst of their searching for a warm, comfortable place to sleep, a barbed, crested bird with brown and white streaked feathers and bright orange and blue patches around its piercing, beady eyes loomed menacingly in their path. "It's Randy Roadrunner!" shrieked Lillie. "HE EATS SNAKES!"
"HE EATS LIZARDS, TOO," Sammy reminded Lillie.
No one had to tell Sammy about roadrunners. Sammy Snake knew all too well about roadrunners! "Why, just last summer, my poor Uncle Silas met-up with and was carried-off by a cuckoo roadrunner, one with beady eyes—just like Randy's!" recalled Sammy. Lying very still, now, not daring to breathe, even, Lillie and Sammy tried to mesh with the surrounding soil, rocks, and bushes.
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After what seemed like forever, which really was less than a minute, a sudden movement in the direction of Dry Pond Creek sent Randy zooming toward the Creek.
"Whew, that was close!" exclaimed Sammy and Lillie in unison. After making sure that Randy Roadrunner had really disappeared behind Dry Pond’s banks and that there were no other reptile-seeking predators about, Sammy and Lillie felt free to continue their search, now not only for a cozy winter home, but for a safe winter home, as well.
Sammy and Lillie looked at hollow logs and decayed tree trunks; hollow rocks and caves; and all sorts of likely places in which to live. Each time they thought they'd found a promising shelter, however, as Sammy’s and Lillie’s luck would have it, that particularly promising shelter was already owned by one or another of nature’s creatures in need of a winter home.
Getting more tired and irritable by the minute, Sammy considered giving-up their search—for the day, at least. Upon turning around, however, there, as if by magic, stood Promise in the form of the skeletal remains of a cholla cactus, looking for all the world like a sentinel on guard duty.
"Look!" shouted Sammy and Lillie, in unison. "What a safe, warm winter haven that could be, if it isn't already taken!" harmonized Lillie and Sammy. And, as luck would have it, it wasn't already taken!
"These windows will be perfect as escape routes if we need them." observed Sammy.
"Yes, they will be perfect," agreed Lillie. "And won't these notches be perfect for getting from one level to the next," she added. "And look! Look what
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a perfect site for bedrooms!" exclaimed Lillie. And so saying, they decided the cholla cactus would indeed be the safe and cozy winter home they were looking for.
Thus, having decided to move in, each day Sammy and Lillie worked on their new home. They made all the necessary structural repairs, collected and arranged reptile furniture, and did the many other things that go into making an otherwise ordinary reptilian house into a safe, warm, comfortable home.
Unlike others of nature's creatures, however, Sammy and Lillie didn't have to worry about storing food to sustain them through the winter, since they would be sleeping the winter through. At last, having finished their work and having eaten a very large meal to sustain them while they slept, Lillie and Sammy tunneled into the cholla's slumber chamber.
And like other of nature’s creatures that sleep through the winter, Lillie and Sammy fell asleep under a friendly, star-studded sky as they listened to the hoot of a hungry owl atop the dead branch of a nearby cottonwood tree as he waited, no doubt, for his mate to join him or for his dinner to scurry by or perhaps both.
Meanwhile, the reechoing sound of a lone coyote's howl from a far-off canyon was just the lullaby they needed to send them peacefully off to sleep and perhaps to dream.
And as was often the case, as Lillie and Sammy slept, chilly, northwesterly winds swept across the desert sky, even as wayward gusts of feral winds rearranged sand, shrubs, weeds, leaves, and pebbles as they stole sometimes silently, sometimes boisterously across the desert floor.
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From time-to-time, when the winds changed direction and the temperature grew cold enough, moisture laden clouds spread a blanket of snow, as far as the eye could see across the, by now, almost barren desert.
Yet, despite the shrill, intermittent, gale-like winds around them, Sammy and Lillie, oblivious to the cold and sounds, slumbered on until the sometimes thunderous, sometimes silent sounds of winter at last gave way to warm breezes and the cacophony of sounds common to an awakening desert and its many inhabitants.
Outside, birds and rabbits and rodents and insects and all the other desert creatures, including early rising snakes and lizards, could be seen or heard as they chirped or cawed, buzzed, whizzed, hissed, howled, hooted, screeched, scurried, squealed scampered, or slithered silently by.
It was apparent that making ready for spring and all the bounty, beauty, and excitement that spring always has in store for all of nature's creatures, fauna and flora alike, was a ritual not to be taken lightly by any of nature's creatures.
And as though to show their joy and appreciation of the coming of spring, desert fauna shed their heavy winter coats as they frolicked about the desert floor, while desert flora once again donned bright green or silvery colored leaves adorned by either purple, pink, orange, blue, red, or yellow buds and blossoms.
Meanwhile, whether cold- or warm-blooded, as with all of nature's creatures, readying themselves for spring, Black Crow's loud "Caw," "Caw," "Caw's" from high atop an ironwood tree, alerted not only his mate, Ebony, perched atop the tallest limb of a nearby Valverde tree, but also other creatures still awaiting a wake-up call of sorts.
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Crow, calling to Ebony from atop the tallest branch of his Ironwood perch, his jet-black feathers gleaming as they catch a glint of morning sunlight, swoops suddenly downward and lands effortlessly near Ebony, whereupon he carefully places the piece of bark he has clenched in his beak inside the nest he and Ebony are building.
Now, both Crow and Ebony set about arranging and rearranging feathers, twigs, leaves, spider webbing, pieces of bark, including mud to hold them together, and anything else of use that will provide a firm foundation for the nest that will hold the fertilized eggs Ebony will soon set in it.
Aroused, at last, perhaps by Crow and Ebony's strident sounds or perhaps by the sounds of other birds and vocal creatures or perhaps by their own biological clocks, Sammy and Lillie emerge from their winter home to find themselves engulfed in golden sunlight and millions of dew drops that sparkled like diamonds on every particle of soil and every blade of grass as far as their eyes could see.
"How wonderful to be awake! To be alive!" they shouted.
Upon hearing Sammy and Lillie's shouts of joy, three tiny, strange-looking things—-creatures with bands of red, white, and black encircling their throats and splotches of gray and yellow adorning their reddish-brown bodies—scampered out from their Cholla nursery and into what for them was a brand new world, a strange, new, amber-colored world, a world fairly brimming with strange sights and even stranger sounds.
"What, in the world are these! These-things! These strange looking creatures?" asked a bewildered Sammy.
"‘These strange looking creatures,’ as you call them, Sammy, are our two sons and our daughter!" exclaimed an ever-so-proud Lillie.
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"NO!" exclaimed an incredulous Sammy.
"Yes, Sammy, these are our children: Semmy, Lemmy, and Liz,†explained Lillie. “They're ours—part snake, like you; and part lizard, like me. “They're SNIZARDS!" Lillie joyfully exclaimed.
And so it was that long, long ago, when the world and its inhabitants came to be, that Lillie Lizard and Sammy Snake, while seeking shelter, in the midst of the Tua Desert, on a hot summer’s day, came to find each other and eventually SNIZARDS came to be.
And so it was, also, that after Father Snake recovered from the shock of meeting his strange, new family, he, Sammy Snake; she, Lillie Lizard; and they, Semmy, Lemmy, and Liz, their first offspring, journeyed off into the desert to procreate a new breed of reptiles, henceforth, to be known as THE STRANGEST OF CREATURES: SNIZARDS!
THE END
"THE SNIZARD SONG"
“SHE AIN’T QUITE A SNAKEâ€
by:
Phyllis Minnitte-Bilbo
(The Short, Contemporary Version of “A Tale of Two Reptiles)
VERSE:
While ridin’ out on
the desert one day,
the strangest of creatures
came sidlin' my way.
With the head of a snake
and the bod of a lizard,
I knew right away that
it mus' be Ma's SNIZARD!
CHORUS:
Though, she wasn't quite snake and
she wasn't quite lizard,
nor was she a mock or
a grey feathered wizard;
but her feet, small n' dainty,
they sure were a sight
in Vegas style slippers that
fit oh, so right.
VERSE:
Ma'd told me most often
when I was a kid,
this strangest of creatures
that chose to be hid
would find me one day
in the strangest of places
beguile me, Olé!
on some sunny oasis. . .
CHORUS:
Though, she wasn’t quiet snake
and she wasn't quite lizard
nor was she a mock or a
grey feathered wizard.
But her feet, small n' dainty
they sure were a sight in
Vegas style slippers
that fit oh, so right. . . .
VERSE
By gum and by golly,
What Mom said was true!
'Cept Maaaa!
Her hair--it ain't blonde!
And her eyes--they ain't blue!
Still, find me she did in
this strangest of places,
beguile me she did on this
'Tua oasis.
CHORUS:
Sooo, y'ain't quite snake and
y'ain't quite lizard,
nor are you a mock or a
grey feathered wizard;
But y'ur feet, small n' dainty,
they sure are a sight in
Vegas style slippers that
fit OH, SO RIGHT!
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