Yesterday I sent Brian out to the garden to pick strawberries. A few minutes later he ran
through our front screen door (we have one of those retractable jobs, an "invisible screen") saying there was
a rattlesnake in the strawberries!!! Since that is about
as likely as finding a panther in the parlor (see last sentence; we are in Yamhill Co.), I urged him to go back out and do his job. He was SURE it was a rattler, however, so he called Rick, loaded his BB gun, and went hunting – but the snake had fled. When he came back inside, I pulled up a couple of videos (
here and
here) so he could see (and HEAR) the more likely causes of his panic.
Today he was outside doing something and found the big bad snake caught in the bird netting around the strawberries. He could see it wasn't a rattler but didn't want to try to free it by himself, so Rick assisted. Then he wanted to keep the gopher snake as a pet! He finally set it free by the woodshed, where hopefully it can do its job eating mice and voles without scaring the gardeners or getting caught in netting.
For the ophidiophobic, here are some flora photos to finish on, to help you forget the snake. ;-)
From the peaceable kingdom at . . .
8 comments:
I love snakes, and that is a beautiful one! Well done, Brian!
Well,we do have rattlesnakes here and I for one would have beat feet too. We also have many of the sweet little black and gold garden snakes which I love to try to catch. And that is a handsome snake. How were the berries?
I can't say that I love snakes, Mary Ann, but I do appreciate and respect them.
What berries, Theresa? (I guess you'd have to ask the snake! ha)
Oh how my grandma hated snakes - and my dad and grandpa would try to convince her that the little garter snakes were not going to hurt her, but actually be good for her garden. B ut she would take her hoe and chop the dickens out of them.
How interesting...snakes are fascinating creatures and I rather like them! X
No snakes for me, thanks so much!!
Perhaps as part of Brian's home study, he should read up on the physical appearance of pit vipers. Living in Central NC we have 3, including the Eastern Diamondback. It never hurts to know what you are looking at .. head shape and the pupil shape.
Though honestly, if you are close enough to see the cat-eye pupil of a pit-viper ... you are way-too-close.
In the city we have the little brown worm snake (maybe 6 to 8 inches long) that lives in the mulch of the flower bed. He's a slug eater and is welcome in my yard. I have 'relocated' 3 or 4 already this year-- I just move them over to another spot where I am not working.
In the country I see garter and black snakes. Also useful and I leave them alone to do their job.
Tina, your poor grandma must have had a real phobia to be that scared of cute little garter snakes!
Are there snakes in France, Maggie? Venomous or none?
I'm very happy to be in non-venomous snake territory, Nancy Kay.
I've never heard of worm snakes, LTS! Brian has learned about venomous and non-venomous snakes, but when he heard that convincing "rattle," the brain shut off and the adrenaline kicked in. ;-)
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