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Sunday, April 6, 2014

Snake Season Begins

With the weather warming up, it is snake season again.Yesterday on my walk I met a black rat snake. Snakes are much slower than rabbits, so this one stayed very still.


He was sunning himself out by the well house, and when I came in closer to look, he flicked his tongue in and out.


Here is a different view of the snake from the other side, so you can see the length of its body.


I left the snake unmolested, since he is guarding my well house from mice. But if for any reason he ventures into the back yard where the dogs are, he is unlikely to survive. Let's hope he is smart enough not to try that. Leo is already quite agitated by squirrel sightings.

This morning Bow and I went outside into the outer pen, and I brought along the watering can. But Bow refused to use it, so I had to water the seeds by myself.


In the interest of full disclosure, I think I should tell you that Bow knocked over the planter once yesterday, and all the dirt spilled out on the floor of the pen. I scolded him for it, and he has not done it again, but I have a lot of doubt as to the outcome  for those seeds. I picked up everything I could and put it back in the planter. This morning I saw that one of the pea seeds had moved up to the surface and was trying to germinate. I pushed it down a little, so it would have a dirt covering.

Bow seems to be against the idea of gardening. He knows all about it, for when he was much younger and not yet in the pens, we did have a flower garden up front. We all took turns watering the plants, and even children who came to visit enjoyed doing that. But not Bow.

It would be nice if Bow would cooperate just a little in earning his own keep or growing his own food. But he has to want to first.

4 comments:

  1. For some reason, youtube isn't working well for me today, so I can't watch the videos yet. I'm sorry to laugh Aya, but I find it kind of amusing that Bow isn't cooperative sometimes and he reminds me of a teenager that is rebelling against authority. :)
    And by the way - you are very wise to leave the snake alive...they are so valuable in our ecosystem!
    Thank you!

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    1. Hi, Kathy. Bow has a mind of his own, and he does act like an adolescent, which is what he is.
      I value the help of the black rat snake in thinning out the mice on my property.

      I think there must be a lot of mice because this afternoon I also spotted a wild cat hunting in my overgrown pasture. I am allergic to cats, so I can't keep any as pets, but I did enjoy observing this one from a great distance.

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  2. I spotted a rattle snake on my hike Monday. I just spotted this post now.

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    1. Wow, Julia! A rattlesnake is dangerous! I hope you gave it a wide berth.

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