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So, after fighting the ginger-headed caterpillars, I was faced with another excitement. I had a headache, so I took two Tylenol and tried to take a nap. That wouldn't work because Baxter was in the front yard bark, bark, barking. The other dogs were quiet, so I wondered if he was badgering the cat. I went outside and told him to hush. He came out from under the giant azalea bushes, looked at me, and then went back under and began barking again. I got my fly swatter so I could show him who was boss and followed him into the bushes. The other dogs were just laying around, yet Bax continued to bark. I couldn't see anything and began to venture deeper, but then I felt like someone poked me on the butt--you know, like they were trying to scare me. No one was there, but it gave me pause and I decided to go to the outside of the fence to look in. I saw something that looked a lot like a balled up python. It was a snake! Yikes! I needed to get the dogs away from him, so I called them inside the house and grabbed my camera figuring I could get a better look with it. He appeared to have round eyes, which is a good sign (I had not noticed the pit below his eye).
Here's a little close look after he was dead. You can now see the slant pupils and the pit. He was a Timber Rattlesnake (Canebrake Rattlesnake) had six rattles and a button and was almost four feet long. I really hate killing anything, snakes included, but am glad I don't have to worry about him hurting my animals. Had Dave been here, I'm sure I would have contemplated putting him in a trash can and hauling him off, but Dave would have probably killed him too. Oh, well. Hope you had an adventurous Saturday too.
I stood there trying to figure out what to do. Our lab, Ellie, and her brother had been bitten by a poisonous snake when they were puppies. I knew couldn't take the chance of that happening again. Of course, if it wasn't poisonous, I'd like it removed to another location. Dave was at a referee camp in Mobile, my neighbor was out, and I didn't see his son's truck in the driveway. I called another neighbor down the road, no luck, so I called Joey again. I asked if she and Bill could come take a look. So we waited. I looked at him and he looked at me. I didn't want him to move away and get lost in the brush. Finally, Bill and Joey arrived and Bill brought his rifle. He looked at it and immediately knew it was a rattlesnake. Now, that really scared me. I stepped back and he shot him dead. By the time he dug him out of the bushes, I could hear the rattles and became weak-kneed and shaken. Whew! The older I get, the more sissified I become.
A Snake ... Yay! If you know me, you know that I look for snakes to photograph--I don't find many, but I look. Dave said he almost grabbed one yesterday while he was clearing the fence line. He jumped back and the snake went on. We couldn't determine what kind it was by his description, but thought it might be a pygmy rattlesnake. That's not good. Well, he went looking for it again today and found it under the lawnmower. I knew it wasn't poisonous because of the round eyes, but still couldn't figure out what it was. We wanted to relocate it, but when we put him in the container to take him away, he flatten his head into an arrow shape and struck at us! I have to admit, I screamed like a girl and ran! He settled down and we took him up the road to another location and let him go. We searched books and the Internet and finally determined it was an Eastern Black-Necked Garter Snake--a garter snake! Whew! I have so say he was a scary snake--albeit non-poisonous, but scary!
On my way out the door this morning, Matt said, "Mom, I got you a surprise in the truck." "Really! What is it?" "A snake." He's such a wonderful son. I'm always on the lookout for snakes but haven't had any luck finding one for a good picture. Someone ran over this one with a car, but it was in good condition. It's a non-venomous rat snake. I don't like killing snakes, although if it comes into my house, it's fair game. There are a lot of good snakes out there, they control the mice population and even kill venoumous snakes, so I would encourage everyone not to kill them.
So, after fighting the ginger-headed caterpillars, I was faced with another excitement. I had a headache, so I took two Tylenol and tried to take a nap. That wouldn't work because Baxter was in the front yard bark, bark, barking. The other dogs were quiet, so I wondered if he was badgering the cat. I went outside and told him to hush. He came out from under the giant azalea bushes, looked at me, and then went back under and began barking again. I got my fly swatter so I could show him who was boss and followed him into the bushes. The other dogs were just laying around, yet Bax continued to bark. I couldn't see anything and began to venture deeper, but then I felt like someone poked me on the butt--you know, like they were trying to scare me. No one was there, but it gave me pause and I decided to go to the outside of the fence to look in. I saw something that looked a lot like a balled up python. It was a snake! Yikes! I needed to get the dogs away from him, so I called them inside the house and grabbed my camera figuring I could get a better look with it. He appeared to have round eyes, which is a good sign (I had not noticed the pit below his eye).
So, after fighting the ginger-headed caterpillars, I was faced with another excitement. I had a headache, so I took two Tylenol and tried to take a nap. That wouldn't work because Baxter was in the front yard bark, bark, barking. The other dogs were quiet, so I wondered if he was badgering the cat. I went outside and told him to hush. He came out from under the giant azalea bushes, looked at me, and then went back under and began barking again. I got my fly swatter so I could show him who was boss and followed him into the bushes. The other dogs were just laying around, yet Bax continued to bark. I couldn't see anything and began to venture deeper, but then I felt like someone poked me on the butt--you know, like they were trying to scare me. No one was there, but it gave me pause and I decided to go to the outside of the fence to look in. I saw something that looked a lot like a balled up python. It was a snake! Yikes! I needed to get the dogs away from him, so I called them inside the house and grabbed my camera figuring I could get a better look with it. He appeared to have round eyes, which is a good sign (I had not noticed the pit below his eye).
So, after fighting the ginger-headed caterpillars, I was faced with another excitement. I had a headache, so I took two Tylenol and tried to take a nap. That wouldn't work because Baxter was in the front yard bark, bark, barking. The other dogs were quiet, so I wondered if he was badgering the cat. I went outside and told him to hush. He came out from under the giant azalea bushes, looked at me, and then went back under and began barking again. I got my fly swatter so I could show him who was boss and followed him into the bushes. The other dogs were just laying around, yet Bax continued to bark. I couldn't see anything and began to venture deeper, but then I felt like someone poked me on the butt--you know, like they were trying to scare me. No one was there, but it gave me pause and I decided to go to the outside of the fence to look in. I saw something that looked a lot like a balled up python. It was a snake! Yikes! I needed to get the dogs away from him, so I called them inside the house and grabbed my camera figuring I could get a better look with it. He appeared to have round eyes, which is a good sign (I had not noticed the pit below his eye).
See photo in original gallery.
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