1st snake of the year

what a little sneaky snake! what kind is he? the DOG didn't notice?

mow that lawn! shave it good!

we only have non-poisonous snakes up here for the most part, but they still are EWW! to step on in your bare feet.

ew ew

KD

PS.
nice photo!

Ye gads!!!! That little garter snake eats rattlesnake fry, mole crickets, copperhead fry, crickets, and a lot of real pests to human living. He is an asset.
Down here, when we see one of them, or a black sanke or indigo snake, we sleep better at night.
Mark, you let mice go? Four mice create 164,000 mice in six months. I do understand completely how difficult it is to kill something seemingly so innocent in appearance. However, their droppings contain a bacteria that in modest quantity is extremely toxic to organic life and when introduced into the water system, Guardia suddenly appears and is almost impossible to eradicate, or filter.
In this country, mice cut the insulation from wiring in spite of the electricals, and pull the ground wire insulation to make nests.
Where I was living in Alaska, there was a study on Wolves. It is estimated there is over 40,000 mice per acre and it is the wolves staple. When we saw them eating, they would stay in a grassy stand and catch and eat mice all day long. Day after day after day. It was something to watch.

Pretty snake. I LOVE snakes. We have a Rosy Boa. They are one of the most docile of all snakes. He will only get about 3-4 feet long. Not verry big at all. The kids love holding him. He belongs to my 8 year old and his name is Gosty because he is white.

totally awesome.

momma

Gaetzchamp,

Oh no - let the butterfly fly. You said yourself "I Caught"

Heres a perspective - yes - you "caught" - its easy, for us to catch.......

Im glad it escaped the net - and kids being mad? tough shyte.

Its doing its "thing" now. Whatever that maybe.

and thats great.

Flowers - the better half has a load of seeds and some poppies are coming out alreay. Really Chuffed with the result - here comes spring

Rocky,
Good size snake for this early in the year, must have been a productive Fall...

Docone,
There was a movie about the wolves eating mice...some scientists wanted to get proof that wolves could actually survive that way; he proved it and was eating them too! Yum Yum...the things people do in the name of science

csroc

I have eaten mice, living off the land. I have also used them for fingers in my gloves.
It started with one mouse, then five, then 15, then my shelter was overrun with the things. In the beginning it was cute, and in a few days it was miserable. They were in everything, eating everything, staring at me from every corner! I would yell at them, and they would scurry and bring friends! I would yell at them and they would stop and wrinkle their noses and whiskers, and tear into my clothes, furs, food, push around my tools and crap everywhere. When my shelter became overrun, so did the grasses. They were everywhere! I would try to sleep, and they would run over me, in the camp roll, up my pants, in my shirt, droppings were everywhere. Then came the wolverine.
He shredded every mouse he could, and when they left, he tore up my shelter, my clothes, food. He sprayed everything he could. It was torture.
I really did not like breakup. The warmth meant less sleep, more moving around, less food. Once the Wolverine did his thing, and the cougars came around and the bears, the mosquitos came. So did the black flies.
We all looked forward to the cold.
Where I was, the cold was the only way to survive. Warm weather brought amazing swarms of things. They eat quickly, breed quickly, and in amazing numbers. It became impossible. An awful lot of people went to cabin fever and went away.
That is what I think about when I think of mice.

Cookie, I couldn't agree more.
My fair bride, a former tree hugger, came to Floriduh and began planting plants. There is a reason in Floriduh, there are few shrubs and trees near homes.
Snakes. When folks live here a while, they learn about snakes.
A mice habitat brings rattlers, water moccasins, and black snakes. Black snakes are welcome, they eat rattlers.
I really respect Mark's approach to catch and release. Given the opportunity I do the same. Rattle snakes have a place in the world. Mice have a place in the world, we have a place in the world.
Even when I have found very large Diamondbacks, I have attempted to have them relocate. Given the chance they are quite willing. A Coral snake will live in a spot quite peacefully. Pygmy rattlers are another story. They are agressive, and will chase even before you see them. I had one attack my boot last fall. I did not see him untill I felt something bumping my boot. The leather was covered with venom! The little rascal was attacking the top of my boot about four inches off the ground. Water Moccasins will also do the same thing. They are very agressive.
I am rebuilding our house like I did in Punta Gorda. We have mice, voles, mole crickets, underground termites, fire ants like you have never seen, pygmy rattlers, eastern diamondbacks, water moccasins, coral snakes. Rather than exterminate, I am rebuilding so there is no outside acess. It costs a little bit more but I do not feel good about bagging the house and killing every living thing in the immediate area. I am also hyper insulating.
Code calls for no insulation. The house was built prior to insulting codes.
Rather than rebuilding to prior code, I am going with R-18 wall insulation, R 13 or 18 roof insulation. The point is to cut down on air conditioning, and heating. I am adding passive solar for heating in the cooler months, and a thru ventilation for the hotter months. An unexpected benifit, the house I did this way in Punta Gorda was the only house in the neighborhood that survived Charley. Code calls for shingles done on a 6" run, I did 5". I had to add several more bundles of shingles but the extra strength, none blew off.
I had an R/O filter. An R/O filter wasts 75% of the water it uses to filter. I designed a solar still that evaporated the waste water leaving behind the dissolved solids and organic waste. I piped the evaporated water back into the R/O system, diluting the filtered water and reducing the amount of water I needed.
Our new house is flea ridden. We are tearing out the carpets and doing strip floors. I use attack for the Bengals untill I am done. Fleas do not like wood floors. The lumber I am using is reclaimed lumber. I like using older wood. I like clear finishing the wood and seeing old nail holes and saw marks.
Even rock prospecting, I hated to leave scars. I left a lot of stones behind as I couldn't remove the desired stone without trashing the parent outcropping. I also do not take what I cannot use.
I do not want to start a treatise on ecology or appear to condemn someone who does not feel like I do. I completely understand Kim's position. The lawn mower will make the snakes move out of danger, and eliminating their comfort zone makes them relocate.
Today, we do not plant shrubs near the house. We seal the house, including elecricity, plumbing, and all other potential acess points. Sometimes I talk big but I have put my self in a potential hazard position for what others have called vermin.
I kinda keep a low profile on things for the most part, and keep myself available to answer someone's question. Now fire ants. That is another issue.

Snakes ... I LOVE SNAKES!!!

There isn't one bad snake out there ... in my opinion.

Okay there are copperheads, water moccasins, rattlesnakes, etc ... but they are just trying to make it in this world like the rest of us.

Imagine laying in the grass and then havea giant try to beat you to death wiht a shovel ... Oh yea ... I would bite them too ;D

When we lived in Southern Oklahoma we had all three of the above listed snakes ... you definitely learn to keep your eyes peeled My favorite snake is the Sidewinder (of the Rattlesnake family) I had one in the ninth grade in Palm Springs, California. I actually had it in my pocket and played with it for nearly three hours before learning what it actually was. I wasn't really scared ... just shocked that I had not been biten by then ... after all these snakes are feared for the poison and they attack little children and little puppies that can't get away ... yea ... right!

I was able to let it go back into the desert ... only the science teacher I had at the time made me put it in a mason jar defore he would let me have it back. Actually, he escorted me the the edge of town and that is where we let it go.

Awesome snake ... so many times we let others fears become our own and then next thing you know ...we are passing our fears onto our children ... and the cycle continues. I guess it shouldn't really seem odd ... we do it to each other for the race on an individual, their religous beliefs, the way they look the clothes they wear ... the list goes on and on.

If we just accepted people and things for what they really are and not be so judgemental and understand that we all have a part in this world ... this world would be a much better place!

Oh well, that's my two cents worth.

John