Garden Visitors~Snakes in the Grass!

Look close!

#MLAChallenge day 8

How's your summer??!! 

Full Strawberry Moon tonight and the Summer Solstice on Friday!

We have 1st cutting done!! Yahoo!! Movin' on to irrigating 2nd.

In Health & Love~ 

 #DoLifeBetter 

 gtyyup

Beauty and the Beast

~Nothing men do surprises me. Some of

'em'are a little rough around the edges.~

~Patricia Calm 1900~

Ah, yes...beauty.

This is my first Columbine bloom from the starts I got from
my sweet neighbor, Shirley. Her plants have been in
her garden for decades. They are all different brilliant colors, so I
was surprised to see this totally white one bloom out!

An then there's the beast.

Well, obviously it's not much of a beast...but snakes always startle me.

Our elm trees always loose branches when we get a good wind goin'. So, I was doin' my normal routine of picking up branches and small sticks before mowing the lawn...when I realized this one that I was walking over to pick up wasn't a stick!

"Who me?!? I'm no beast! I'm just enjoying the
cool, wet grass where the sprinkler had been.
I was findin' all sorts of snacks too!"
(I had my aperture set at 5.7 so I think that's why
his head didn't come out clear in this photo...and I was
zooming in from at least 10 feet.)

Over exposed...yes. But I still like how it
enhanced the snake's eye and nostril.

OK...so does anyone know what kind of snake this is? It was very patient as I went to the house to get the camera, because he was still there when I got back! After about 2-3 minutes he seemed to notice that I was there; threw his head up...and took off like a flash!

Update: I had a comment left on my Flickr photo from Natalie McNear

"Cool find! This is a Western Yellow-bellied Racer, Coluber constrictor mormon. These guys are harmless and feed on a wide variety of prey, from insects to rodents, so they are beneficial to have around the yard."

Thank you Natalie!

I've seen one other of these two years ago. It was on the water spigot on a hot day...when I went to grab for the handle...that gave me a start!!

Have a great week!!

Snakes are Supposed to Stay OUTSIDE!!!

This will be my first ever post without photos. All I can say is that I couldn't find my camera in the heat of the battle (and it was sitting right there within arm's reach)!

I'm sitting at the dining room table working on editing my ag surveys for the day and My Man yells to me "there's a snake under the sink!" Well, that got my attention pretty darn quick. So, "what kind of snake" I asked him. Then he says "I think it's a bull snake."

THANK GOD! I don't know what we would have done if it had been a rattler...I guess I probably would have called Mikey over at Postcards from Arizona...she does this sort of thing all the time! If you need something done, call a pro...right Mikey   ;~)   !!!

Anyhow...by then I'm peeking in the cabinet under the utility sink in the utility room...My Man's right again! There's a dang snake in there...and it's pretty big too...probably 2 1/2 feet!

We're looking at each other like "Who wants to get the snake?" Ha! I'll let My Man have all the fun ;~)

So, I'm 'coaching' him from behind the cabinet door..."Grab it by the tail, grab it by the tail!" He does...and he says "dang, he's strong." The snake pulled himself free and slithered into the far corner and hissed at him!

We proceed to take more bottles and containers out from the cabinet, so My Man can get a clear catch at the lil' sucker. My Man grabs the cleaning bucket and tries to herd the invader into the bucket...the snake hisses at him some more and coils up in a ball...Mr. Snake isn't very happy...but then neither are we!

All of a sudden Mr. Snake makes a run for the open door and we slam it shut...geez...the last thing we need is the snake inside the whole house! My Man runs outside and comes back in with tools...a foot long screwdriver and a huge channel-lock plier...what?!?

"Don't kill the snake, just grab him by the tail" I coach again...to which the reply was "Do you want to do it?" Ah...no!

So, My Man tries again to get our new friend into the bucket with the screwdriver...and the snake misses the bucket and takes off into the mud room...with My Man in hot pursuit!

"Open the door, open the door...I've got him!!!"

Sling!  Out the door goes the bewildered and pissed off snake, landing with a big thud!

Then the silly thing kept heading back toward the house! Go figure!  My Man finally gets him into a 5 gallon bucket and takes him over to the edge of the alfalfa field...the snake took off into the tall alfalfa...hopefully to never be seen again!

We haven't a clue how he got in there...maybe from underneath the house where the plumbing comes up. Now that is all sealed with the foam insulation that stuff dries as hard as a rock.

But, I still keep looking for snakes in the house!

BTW...if my dearest friend Debbie is reading this (I hope not)...I PROMISE that there will be NO snakes in the house when you come to visit us this summer...honest ;~)