Snake eggs

I was doing laundry, and you know how weird stuff gets left behind in the washer?  There was this odd, plasticky, flexible, inch-long “pod” left behind.  I thought at first it was some kind of bean, or seed pod, and naturally I tore it open, and it was actually something VERY FAR DOWN ON THE LIST OF THINGS I EXPECTED TO FIND when I opened it.

In fact, I’ve never seen one before, and was excited with the discovery, but also sad, because it was dead from the laundering.

It was a tiny snake!  Tri-folded, like a letter, to fit in its little pod.  If it were hatched- and it must be nearly finished incubating,  because it’s filling up its envelope- it would be about 3 inches long.  Fully recognizable as a tiny little snake.

Stranger, later I found another egg the same size, this one outside, and dessicated, and I’ve no idea how either of them came to turn up near us – were the eggs laid in hay bales, and got shaken into the rolled up cuffs of my pants?  It’s a mystery, and that’s my best guess.