This is NOT a venomous snake!!

  We seem to have an overabundance of rat snakes (aka chicken snakes) around the Bayou this year.  Just this past week, I have come across about a dozen or more in trees, under bushes and just hanging out under the bird feeders.  Wait!  Under the bird feeders?  Not good! Those need to be shooed a bit further down the hill!  I do not mind the snakes as they do catch tons of rodents and bugs but when they start stalking the birds, they have to contend with this bird lover!  Just yesterday, I found a small snake on the board path that leads to the pier. This one was not a threat to much merely because of his size but I still did not wish to have him underfoot.  My snake removal skills were called into action and the critter was relocated a bit further away.  He now resides down by the canebrake where I won't be quite so apt to step on him.  I figure that every one of these snakes is a welcome addition to the area.  These guys will do a grand job eradicating the billion or so voles that have made a network of tunnels underground.

  Then today, Ms. Ez was supposed to be doing her squirrel-chasing duties but instead was lounging about on the steps.  I came around the side of the house and startled her into action.  She leapt to her feet and raced down the hill to the infamous "squirrel tree".  (This is the tree where she always thinks a squirrel should run but it never does).  She chased the imaginary squirrel and treed him high in the limbs of the hickory tree. As she did this, I could see that she actually skidded to a halt right on top of a snake!  This one was a nice size one and might have actually taken a nip at the dog but obviously did not connect. Ms. Ez came bounding back up the hill all excited that she had rid the feeders of the nonexistent squirrel!  The snake stayed put at the base of the tree.  After convincing the dog to sit, I decided that I had better confirm that this was indeed another rat snake and not a cottonmouth moccasin.  I can tolerate the non-venomous rat snakes in the yard but not the dangerous cottonmouths.  Those have to go!  

  Sure enough, this was a rat snake.  It seemed awfully docile, though.  It did not even try to move.  Hmmm.  I figure this was a good time to get great "snake" pictures!  Several bulges told me that this particular snake had obviously just eaten which explained its hesitance to move. The four feet long snake did not even mind that I poked the camera within inches of its face!  I was able to take my time to admire the beauty of the creature.  I have truly come to appreciate snakes.  The poor critters are probably the most misunderstood of all creatures.  They do not have the cute, fuzziness of bunnies nor the brightly colored feathers of birds.  A lot of folks have the "kill all snakes" mentality and that includes ones like this very docile, very friendly rat snake.  I guess this one had better just hang about the Bayou where at least it is safe!