Yes We Have Your Bananas... and a Snake!

Local Man Rescues Tiny Stow-Away

An Ornate Cat-Eyed Snake

Three cheers for somebody named Ryan Miller who works at our local grocery store and loves reptiles!

No, really! Last week, a regional story got blown up about how a little Ornate Cat-Eyed Snake from Ecuador apparently hitch-hiked its way to Southern New Hampshire in a carton of Bananas. Even USA Today picked up the story so it got around.

Every headline screamed about how the snake was venomous and how lucky everybody in Manchester was that the snake didn’t get angry and go on a city-wide killing spree.

Meh. That wasn’t the story at all. The real story, if you looked hard enough, was about a guy named Ryan. And only a few media outlets cared enough to report HIS story.

First, the Ornate Cat-Eyed Snake is a long long way from a Black Mamba. The Ornate Cat-Eyed Snake is like a bee bite. It’ll sting but it won’t kill you.

Second, old Ryan Miller saved the poor snake’s life. Turns out, what actually happened was that the banana box came in, some clerk saw a tiny snake in there, grabbed it and tossed it outside into the snow, never to think about it again. Enter Ryan.

Upon learning of the discarded snake, Ryan went outside and rescued it before it froze. He packed it up in one of those plastic Market Basket watermelon cubes containers and took it home, bringing the snake back to life.

"I was ecstatic, because I love reptiles," he told one news outlet.

But Ryan is also a responsible fellow and did his research. Upon learning that the snake was considered venomous, he contacted Fish and Game who told him he couldn’t keep the snake. So he turned it over to a rescue organization.

Ryan was sad to lose his new friend, but understood, telling a reporter that he hoped his story would inspire others to take care of unknown animals and treat them with kindness. And here’s the best part. Ryan named the snake Sadat.

I like his message. I like that a couple media actually wrote the whole story and appreciate that a focus on the human element (as opposed to Ahhhhh Poison Snake!) was applied.

Nice job Ryan and here’s to a happy ending for the little snake that took a long, long ride.

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Housekeeping: Hey all, we have a couple big story announcements to make tomorrow about upcoming interviews, including a really interesting one about Little Bean herself being interviewed!

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