itty bitty snake

he had that "are you sure she should be holding that snake" look in his eyes when i picked up a snake in the front yard and handed it to Juniper. It was a garter snake.
"they dont bite honey. well...it might bite her, but it wont even hurt . i grew up holding snakes."
The snakes jaws open wide! juniper flinches...i smile. brandon flinches.
"its not going to bite her honey"
My mom pulls up..."julie...yadda yadda yadda..something about snake bites"says brandon.
"Oh B! ,no they dont bite" my mom says.
We snicker about the boy who just held a frog for the first time this year, my mom and I.
Juniper held the snake for about 30 minutes. walking around, talking to it in her sweet little voice. "oooh..you cute little baby snake i love you...oooh...i love you baby baby snake" wrapping it around her wrist like a bracelet. "mommy. the snake loves me. it loves me because it knows i love animals and that im really gentle and caring"
And then it bit her! the little shit!! but she just said "its ok mommy, the snake is just afraid. they get 'ascared' of people sometimes".
I sigh, so happy knowing she's not afraid, or "ascared" (he he)
So...avery wakes up.
"ok avery be gentle. dont squeeze it"
Brandon glances over at us "its not a good idea".
avery takes the snake in his tiny hands very gently, and the snake wips around and graps hold of the web of skin between his little chubby fingers, "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" he screams bloody murder.
Brandon is looking at me with those eyes still...except now they are saying "see..they bite"
"oh honey, he's fine!!" as i frantically try to pry the snake from averys skin. It wont let go. Damn...
I get one jaw off, the other is stuck like a prickly leaf into his skin. but, it wont budge. screaming ensues. pulling up and away, I finally get the little bastard off him.
And the blood rises to the surface. little red beads in the shape of a tiny iron . one on each side of his hand. and then the blood starts to drip. and Juniper looks down at her hand and little beads of blood are rising too. (She hadnt noticed.how bad could it really hurt! i mean come on!)
I swear Brandon jinxed me. he suggested I go online and prove that they werent poisonous in any way.
"oh dont be silly!" i said, in a half you-are-crazy-but-now-i-feel-really-bad-and-i-better-check-to-make-sure sort of way.since im obviously not right about the biting thing.
so i checked. and they are not. DUH! ha ha...(insert small hidden stubborn sense of relief here)