Author: Hashi

During the rains we had a surprise visitor, a blind snake! It’s our first time seeing this earthworm-looking reptile. Rena humilis is found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It lives underground, sometimes as deep as 20 metres (66 ft). Having no need for vision, its eyes are vestigial, just two light-detecting black spots. The skull is thick to permit burrowing.

Its diet is made up mostly of insects and their larvae and eggs. It is found in deserts and scrub where the soil is loose enough to work, so I’m not sure what it was doing in our living room! I moved it outside, and noticed that my hands smelled like mushrooms afterwards. Very earthy.