Pretty, Little Snaky!

   I had no intentions of doing a single bit of yard work today but wound up working myself to exhaustion.  It felt good after being cooped up inside.  Repainting each room in the Little Bayou House may not seem like an overwhelming chore but..hey, I am old.  So when the thought crossed my mind that I needed to pick more hot peppers, I jumped at the chance.  Picking those peppers would have been a perfectly nice outing if one thing did not lead to another.  I soon found myself cutting grass then cleaning the glorified gutter drain and catch pond...aka Pebble Creek and Puddle Pond.  (Yes, I find it fun to name every feature in the yard.)  I should have stopped before attempting the pond cleaning.

  While knee-deep in the small pond, I was scooping up the leafy debris that had fallen in the water.  Thinking it would be a quick job, I did not bother getting the rake.  I used my hands.  I am accustomed to dealing with things like this.  It does not make me squeamish to scoop out a handful of mud, algae and a dozen or so critters with each scoop.  All was going well until I went to clean under some rocks on the side.  It was there that I found the snake.  I was not even paying much attention when I noticed something long and slithery scooting into the water.  Ooops!  Well, now!  

  There was not much to do but keep cleaning even with the snake and I sharing the tiny pond.  I figured I had to at least determine what type of snake was living this close to the steps so...I kept work.  I had a strong hunch that this was a water snake simply because a cottonmouth would have held its ground.  So...snaky and I shared the tiny puddle until I had enough water out so I could find my friend.  Once its identity was confirmed (banded water snake), I felt more at ease and finished the job.  I did reassure the snake that it was welcome to stay in its home and not feel threatened.  Perhaps I should be a bit more careful in the future.  (And we all know that is not going to happen.)