"A Snake in the Bush"

   Son has a way of always twisting sayings around to suit the current situation.  When I found a sweet rat snake hanging out in the deutzia bush, his comment was "A snake in the bush is better than two in the hand." lightly paraphrasing the "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush." adage.  Had this been a venomous snake, I would have had to agree but, truth be told, I hold these snakes a good bit.  They are docile and quite lovely to have in the gardens.

  I came to notice the snake simply because of the "Critter Neighborhood Watch" group let up a huge ruckus.  Thinking that Bat, the cat, was on the prowl, I slipped outside to shoo him from his hiding spot.  Bat could not be found so I started tending the herbs.  Once again, the blue jays started yelling near the blueberry bushes so, once again, I searched the area.  This time, instead of finding that black cat lurking beneath the bushes, I found my lovely friend in the "feather tree".  Ahh, the sweet thing was merely trying to protect my blueberries from the raiding birds.  (Not the snake's true intention but it sounds nicer than "the snake was trying to eat a bird".)  Son found me talking to the snake and probably assumed that my oldness had finally caught up with me as he could only see I was conversing with a shrub.  Once he came to check on the sanity of his old mom, he, too, was elated to find the snake.  We had just talked about not finding any as of late.

  Rat snakes will eat most anything they can catch which makes them great to have around the place.  They literally keep the place "pest-free".  That being said, it is easy to see why they are always welcome around here and the paraphrased adage somewhat holds true.  A rat snake in the bush is always good even though two in hand would not be bad, either!

Lots of Snaky Friends

   Several years ago, we had a huge rat snake that stayed primarily in the rose arbors.  The snake would travel the jasmine laden fence lines from arbor to arbor.  I realize that it ate its share of birds but it did a fine job of keeping varmints at a minimum, as well.  The snake was every bit of seven feet in length and as big around as my arm.  Even at that size, she was gentle and would let me "pet" her or hold her.  The last I saw of her was last winter.  She climbed up to the top of the old gum tree and went into a hole where she went into brumation.  Come spring, she never returned.  I am assuming that old age caught up with her.

  Last year, however, we had tons of baby rat snakes appear.  While I cannot be certain that these are from my big rat snake friend, it is a comforting thought to think they may be.  For the past few weeks, these "baby" rat snakes have been quite active in the yard.  As juveniles, they are still relatively small (about 3ft) but are feisty enough to tackle most anything even if it is too large for them.  I have had to "discourage" several from raiding the birds' nests in the yard.  I find it is easy to pick up the snakes and move them to a better location.  Once the little birds leave the nests, the snakes are more than welcome to come back into the gardens.

Crows Can Be Vicious!

  After a sleepless night with an ailing dog, the morning should have been spent resting.  I would have given anything for an uneventful start to the day but that was not to be.  As is my habit, I opened the windows in the kitchen so I could enjoy my first mug of coffee while listening to the birds awakening.  They always sound so happy to see the sunrise and it brightens my day hearing them.  This morning, however, I did not hear the cheerful chirping.  Instead, there was quite the ruckus going on near the plum tree.  Crows were everywhere and they were not playing nicely.  There was nothing else to do but go out and investigate the cause of their turmoil.  Crows can get into the most trouble of any critters on the Bayou.

  After easing my way out the front door and around the side of the house, I watched as a crow made a dive down to the ground.  It was just about to launch an attack on a poor hapless critter.  Thinking this may be another baby bird being ruthlessly mauled, I quickened my step.  The crow flew to a nearby pine where it started to scold me relentlessly.  

  Nope.  It was not a baby bird this time.  The tiny rat snake that had been feasting upon the tree frogs a few weeks back, had made its way to the ground and was trying to cross a small patch of lawn.  The crows were hoping to make a meal out of this little one. Even though Son frowns on me interfering with nature,  I was not going to let that happen.  Rat snakes are good to have about the place so I had to do a quick rescue.  It was then, that a few more crows joined the pack.  My little friend was not going to make it without my help.  So....I reached down, scooped him up and toted him to a shady spot under the orange tree.  There, the snake and I sat bonding for a good fifteen minutes.  Finally the murderous crows left to stir up some trouble elsewhere.  My little buddy was released near a hollow log and I was able to go finish my mug of (now cold and stale) coffee.  Oh, the things I do.  

Face To Face WIth The Predator!

  There is one thing that is always holds true here on the Bayou.  You can always depend on something to catch your interest.  While it may not be something that you enjoy, it will be interesting.   Today's bit of (morbid) entertainment came around noontime.  I was cooking lunch when a strange noise alerted me that something not-so-nice was happening in the back yard.  Since we recently lost an entire nest of baby birds to some marauder, I figured that I had better investigate this call for help.

  As I quietly slipped out the back door and down the back steps, I had no idea that I would literally come face to face with a predator.  A snake was sort of precariously dangling from the top of the shed.  The twisting and torquing of the body told me that this snake was the cause but not the source of the noise.  The snake was in the process of trying to swallow a green tree frog.  This was a juvenile gray rat snake that was probably only about 15 inches in length and maybe a half inch thick.  The frog was a normal sized tree frog.  Even though the snake had quite a good grip on the frog, the frog was doing its best to escape.  One of the escape tactics the frog was employing was to inflate its body to nearly twice its normal size.  This indeed was helping as the snake was having a difficult time swallowing such a round object.  The squeaking sound that I heard was the frog being squeezed by the snake's jaws.

  My first instinct was to help the poor, doomed frog but, at the urging of Son, I had promised to stop interfering with nature.  "You have to let things happen, Mom."  So, I got to pondering about that snake and that frog.  I was not there to protect the insects that the frog ate before it met up with the snake so I should not protect the frog just because the snake needs a meal.  Plus, I really like rat snakes and this little one would have a doozy of a time trying to catch anything larger than the frog.  Given time, the snake will grow and move onto larger prey.  Perhaps it will clear out the shed of any rats or maybe catch a few of the squirrels that are devouring the peaches.  Any which way, the snake had his meal and I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about snakes and frogs.  Oh, and about the baby birds mentioned earlier, that dirty deed was definitely NOT done by this little rat snake.  Snakes swallow their prey whole....lets just leave it at that.

Neighborhood Watch Program

  In the critter world, it is more common that one ignores the other unless one is larger and is hungry.  Then, both become quite aware of the other's presence.  Most critters are not busybodies that have to be prying in their neighbor's business.  They just go their separate ways and live life.  However, there is a network of "Neighborhood Watch" participants that keep everyone informed of the happenings of the Bayou.

  The other afternoon, a cacophony of bird calls led me to believe that something was amiss.  I eased my self out the front door and listened intently to the calls.  By now, a few squirrels had joined in on the party.  The center of interest was a tall black gum tree near the edge of the property.  A mama squirrel had made a rather large nest in the tree and had her little ones safe and secure...or so she thought.  Since this nest is far up in the tree, the intruder was one of two things...a hawk or a snake.  I was betting on the latter.  By the time I made my way to the base of the tree, neither could be found.  Only a dozen or so assorted birds were curiously eyeing the squirrel's nest.  The onlookers were still yelling at the snake but it was too late.  Mama Squirrel was frozen in fear and was not even attempting to give battle to the serpent that was performing the foul deed.

  Lately, we have a lot of rat snakes living in the area.  They are making a clean sweep of the squirrels' nests and even a few of the birds' nests, as well.  While I hate to think of the little ones becoming prey, Son reminds me that I should let "nature take its course".  I love having the rat snakes in the yard to keep the mice, rats and voles in check so I have to turn a deaf ear to the "Neighborhood Watch" team when they send out the alarm.  There is no filtering out what is fair game for the snakes.

A Change In Diet!

  Well, now.  This was something that I did not expect!  This afternoon, I watched as an osprey was hovering over the Bayou in search of a mullet to have for supper.  There were plenty of tiny mullet but, obviously, none suited the osprey's taste.  After a while, the bird tired and flew to the top of the dead pine tree to rest.  From its vantage point, it could still watch the water for a school of mullet to enter the Bayou but it could do so from its place of comfort.  I watched the bird while it watched the fish.  Then....the unexpected.  Both for the bird and for me!

  A few limbs down from the bird was an abandoned woodpecker hole.  All birds seem to love the dead pine trees!  While the holes have not been used recently by the woodpeckers, flying squirrels made their nests in the holes.  They have free run of the network of holes in the old tree.  Few predators bother the flying squirrels this far from the ground.  No, the osprey did not decide to change its diet to include flying squirrels but, much to my surprise, it did indeed stray from its regular diet of fish.  

  I noticed the osprey watching something on the tree but could not, for the life of me, see what had caught its attention.  Then, in an instant, the osprey had its dinner...a strange dinner...but dinner all the same.  And, the bird did the flying squirrels a favor!  One predator had made its way up the tall pine to dine upon squirrel.  The osprey had caught a rat snake! 

  It is not unheard of but rather strange for an osprey to catch a snake.  Niney-nine percent of the bird's diet is fish.  I just happened to be at the right place, at the right time, to see it decide snake was easier to catch than fish!  I never expected that to happen!  The bird flew back to the top of the tree and clutched the snake for some time.  The snake tried to escape the talons but the bird held tight and kept ripping at the head.  After a bit, the osprey took off with its prize.  It flew home to its nest deep in the back of the Bayou.  Happy hunting, Osprey!  You just gave me a thrill!

Stumbling upon Friends!

  Critters sure have a way of blending in with their surroundings. Whether this is a neat mechanism to keep them from being eaten or whether it is to aid them in their hunting, the idea is fantastic. Sometimes I wish I could "blend in with the woodwork", so to speak. Still with critters, this can occasionally be detrimental to humans.  Take today, for instance.  I might have been suffering from a severe bite had the snake been an ill-tempered moccasin instead of a curious chicken snake.

  Son and I were out back behind the shed pulling up weeds.  This area has about six feet of beach sand (compliments of Hurricane Katrina) which makes it a nigh on impossible chore to cut with the lawn mower. Usually, I put the old weed-whacker to work here but after just a couple of weeks of being lazy, the weeds were entirely to big even for that machine.  The task called for some good old elbow grease and lots of sweating.  While I was down on my hands and knees, I came face to face with the chicken snake.  It had obviously been there all along but I failed to notice it.  All I could think of was how I sure was thankful for chicken snakes!  Had this been a moccasin, I most likely would not be typing tonight!  Those things give wicked bites!  

  This little fellow was about three feet in length and was more curious than feisty.  I had been weeding within a few feet of it for over an hour and it made no move to attack.  Once I spied the critter and overcame the jitters of being stared at by two beady eyes, I sat back and enjoyed its company.  I figure that it was more interested in the possible supper that I might flush out of the weeds than anything else.  Still, the snake needed to relocate so I could finish the chore I had set out to accomplish.  

  Moving the snake proved to be quite easy so it was relocated to the compost pile.  There it can feast on the mice that visit regularly.  My weeding was a different story...it was hard!  Son and I finished just as the sun started making the area rather toasty.  Whew!  Glad that is done and glad that Friend Snake was just that...a friend!

 

The Wall Climbers!

 Back when he was just a lad of maybe eight years of age, Son used to be what I called a "Wall Climber".  Our hallway is rather narrow making the walls just the right distance apart of his arms when outstretched. He would do a sort of Spiderman climb up the walls with hands outstretched and feet spread against opposite walls.  My little Wall Climber did not stop there, though.  Once he figured out how to contort his body in weird ways, I never knew where I was going to find him! Why!  There are even footprints on the ceiling above the stairs and that is a good twenty feet up!  How in the world he ever walked the ceiling was beyond my comprehension! To this day, he is still just as agile as when he was a kid.  It seems as if I was doomed from the start with Wall Climbers scaring the beejeebies out of me!

  The Wall Climber, today, was not near so terrifying as finding your tyke dangling from a ceiling fan but it did make me ponder.  I headed out to water the garden and pick a few summer squash when I noticed the young cat, Ms. Nycto sitting on the back porch.  While there is nothing unusual about her being there, her actions were most peculiar. She was sitting and staring at the window.  Hmmm?  This needed to be checked.  Was there some bird trapped inside the laundry room?  I thought perhaps the cat was eyeing something INSIDE the window.....I was wrong.....way wrong.  When I glanced in the same direction as the cat, I found what was holding her so mesmerized.  A Gray Rat Snake was lounging about on the window.  Now before you think this little guy was on a ledge or something, let me reassure you that it was actually on the window!  The snake had made its way up the wall and was stretched out on the muntins between the panes.  (Yes, that is a word. The small wood or metal strips that are between window panes are called muntins.  Bet you did not know that!)  That critter was a Wall Climber!  

  Okey dokey now!  Son!!!!  I asked Son to move the snake to a less scarier place than my back window.  (Less scary for me and probably the snake since the cat was contemplating if this would be her first catch as a predator!)  Michael agreed but only if he could play with the snake for a while.  So....we did.  The snake proved to be quite placid about the whole ordeal and was most congenial. His exit to the garden was made and there he can catch all the voles he wants without having to climb any more walls!

The Necessary Evil

  It is very rare that I kill a snake.  I figure that they have a place in this old world and here on the Bayou.  It does, indeed, make me sad to hear that folks kill any and every snake they see.  There is just no sense in it. Without snakes doing their snaky things, we would be overrun with rodents, insects and, yes, birds.  Still, when it hits close to home, the evil deed has to be done.  

  Mark and I have been watching a family of mockingbirds for the past few weeks.  The parent birds built their nest very close to where we sit and drink our morning coffee.  We watched as Mama Bird made daily visits to the nest and watched as she sat on the beautiful eggs.  We were overjoyed to hear the faint peeps on the hatching day and, also, hear those peeps grow louder as the birds became stronger.  Mama and Papa Mockingbird worked diligently to find insects to feed the four hungry mouths that yelled "More, more, more!"  The little family soon became "our" family and we wondered if one of the parents was Knox or Shelby.  Those were the names we gave to two orphaned baby mockingbirds that we raised a while back. This was probably not the case but we liked to think it was.  All was going well with the little ones and, today, we realized that the time was near for our little ones to leave the nest.

  A sudden storm whipped into the Bayou and dumped over an inch of rain down upon us.  High winds twisted limbs this way and that causing some to break.  The parent part of us worried about the babies.  We were happy when, as soon as the rain stopped, we were able to peer into the nest and count our babies.  All were accounted for and all seemed well even though they were soaked!  Ahh, yes!  We could rest easy......but not for long.

  The nest is just outside of our living room window.  While doing a bit of work, I could listen to the sweet peeps of the little ones each time the parents brought food.  I knew the birds were happy!  Then those peeps changed.  It took a few moments for me to realize that those screeches were not the same peeps begging for food.  Something was amiss! Like any good mama, I bolted from the house and raced to my babies! Egad! Something was DEFINITELY amiss!  There, entering the nest, was a gray rat snake (or, better known around these parts as a chicken snake!).  The little ones were in dire danger!  If I did not do something and do it quick, the babies would become a meal for the hungry snake! I raced to get the ladder from the nearby garden all the while yelling for Mark to come quick!!!  

  Throwing the stepladder up under the arbor, I searched for the snake. That thing was about the same color and shape as the rose canes that thatched over the nest.  Where was he??? As Mark ran out the door, he hunted for something to use to get the serpent.  The only thing handy was a mop that I had been using to scrub the deck.  Using the handle, he poked into the rose vines hoping to distract the predator.  This seemed to work as I spied the snake slithering toward the opposite side of the arbor.  Hurry!  Get him!!  Mark whacked at the snake with the back of the mop and sent him flying to the ground!  He pinned the snake to keep it from slipping under the daylilies.  Knowing my stance on senseless killing of snakes, he hit it just hard enough to stun it and held it down once again.  Nope, that was not going to do for me.  He gave me the mop and I whapped that snake until he was no more!  No slithering stinker of a snake was going to sup on these siblings!  Ahh, I felt relieved!  This just goes to show that no predator had better cross a mama when it comes to her babies....even if those babies are not even of the same species!  Whack!

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!

Watch your step!

  I don't know how many times I have been told to "Watch my step", "Watch where you put your feet" or "Keep your eye on the ground" in reference to being wary of snakes.  Not once...not once, however, was I warned to keep looking up so I would not get bit by one of those slithery rascals!  No!  I did not get bit! Thank goodness! But I did find one of my reptilian friends high above the ground.  

  I was out back checking the nonexistent peaches (most have been eaten by squirrels) when I heard a ruckus down near the magnolia tree. Hmm?  Either the blue jays had happened upon a hawk or owl and were letting the world know.  Those birds are great "watchdogs" for the rest of the birds.  If they see a potential predator in the area, a great cacophony is raised.  This is to let all birds in the immediate area know to keep a sharp eye on their nests and little ones.  I do not normally think blue jays are heroic critters but, in this instance, I have to admit that I sort of like them.  But back to the ruckus.  I slipped over to the tall oak tree and stared up into the branches.  I always love to photograph the hawks and owls.  They are both such majestic birds.  This time, however, I could find neither.  I stared and stared at the branches of the tree.  The blue jays were relentless in their calls so I knew that the danger was still near.  Hmmm?

  Then just a few feet above my head, I caught sight of a slight movement.  Uh, oh.  Yep, there coiled on a branch was a large chicken (rat) snake.  This sucker was about six or seven feet long!  Oh, my goodness!  No wonder the jays were going haywire!  A snake in the tree is a good reason for a bit of nervousness.  I watched the snake for a good while and was amazed at how adeptly it handled the tree limbs.  For having no arms or hands, that guy could climb!  

  To get to a higher limb, the snake merely stretched itself upward and then would slowly, ever so slowly, pull itself up.  Some of these limbs were a good two feet above the snake's head, yet, it made the climb look easy!  The snake's climbing abilities impressed me so much that I bid him good luck.  If the snake has the resolve to climb a tree, then he deserves a good meal.

  Encountering him made me think, though.  When I go out hiking, should I be looking up while watching for snakes?  This makes one wonder just how many critters go unnoticed by humans as we tromp around in their domain?

Send up the alarm!

It was hot today so after I finished cleaning the Little Bayou House, I grabbed a glass of herbal iced tea and headed out to my favorite chair.  A cool breeze blew off the Bay and made the afternoon delightful..until the mosquitoes paid me a visit and that ended the nicety of the afternoon.  Just as I was heading back indoors, a pair of chickadees started fussing up a storm!  Hmmm?  It is not like these sweet, little birds to be so noisy!  I pondered what had them so upset.  Before I could even head down the hill to where the birds were, many more birds of all types joined the chickadees.  Wrens and titmice were on the lower limbs of a live oak tree while blue jays and woodpeckers were yelling from the pine tree top!  This cacophony kept up with more birds joining with every yell. My first thought was that the Cooper's Hawk or Great Horned Owl had flown in to the treetops to watch the bird feeders.  They both do this often in hopes of finding a fat dove for supper.  This time, however, the smaller birds were all gathered low to the ground...hmm...snake!  I figured that a snake had come up out of the marsh and was making a nuisance of itself.  I had better walk with care if I did not want to find this one the hard way!  No use stepping on a  moccasin!

I was right.  There was a snake near the base of the oak tree.  A Gray Rat Snake was trying to make its way up the tree to raid the nest of the mockingbird.  How this thing knew that the baby birds hatched this past weekend is beyond me but there it was trying to scale the tree trunk.  Each time the near five foot long snake would get a few feet up the tree, the blue jays and mockingbirds would form an attack!  They would swoop at the snake literally knocking it from the tree.  The snake was determined, though, and was not easily daunted by the sharp beaks and talons of the birds.  Ms. Ez and I watched for a few minutes before intervening.  Well, I intervened..that goofy dog had yet to see the snake!  Grabbing the snake by the tail, I flipped it out in the yard!  This confused the snake as I suppose it had never been airborne before!  This bit of lapse in its judgement gave me an opportunity to find a short stick.  Now that the snake was a tad bit "upset" (to say the least!), I was not going to take any chances of getting even a tiny nip.  Even though Gray Rat Snakes are non-venomous, a bite would still smart.  A gentle prodding from my stick sent the snake down the hill and into the marsh.

Mama Mockingbird went back to her nest and all was right with the world.  The chickadees were famished by their battle with the "monster" and held a celebratory feast at the feeders.  The snake would have to settle for some rodent found deep in the marsh and Ms. Ez, the dog, was still oblivious that anything at all had happened.  She sat holding her ball begging to play.