Quiet Time Among Friends

   The "Critter Neighborhood Watch Program" started their alarms early yesterday morning.  I was still inside canning the last batch of muscadine syrup when I heard the ruckus.  Checking the clock, it was just a little past 6am.  After putting on the last lid, I stepped onto the back porch.  Yep, those blue jays and wrens were cutting a flip about something back behind the pump shed. Time to investigate!  I was sure this had to be a snake!

  Just last week, I bemoaned the fact that nary a snake (other than the two little ribbon snakes that live in Puddle Pond) had been found around the property this year.  While I am fine without finding too many cottonmouths, the absence of rat snakes, racers and water snakes was puzzling.  Perhaps since the area has been receiving almost daily rains, the snakes did not need to search for water allowing them to stay well hidden.  Most snakes would rather lie low and let the prey come to them than to put themselves in the wide open areas.  As I eased my way to where the birds were still causing an uproar, I had to watch my step.  There was no use in putting my feet down on any snake!

  Sure enough, I found my target.  A small rat snake was being harassed by the birds.  My presence caused the birds to back off a bit.  The little snake seemed appreciative and made no effort to flee.  I decided that meant it wanted company of some sort other than the raucous birds.  Oh, what a grand time I had holding this beauty for nigh on a half hour.  My new friend and I got to know one another before I lifted it into the loft of the pump shed.  There, it could hide from the birds and keep the building free of any pesky mice or rats.  My morning was spent most perfectly!

Nary A Snake

  Yesterday about mid morning, the neighborhood watch sent up a huge alarm.  Something was surely amiss!  I headed out the front door to check for snakes.  By neighborhood watch, I mean the usual cacophony of bird cries.  Let one blue jay find a snake and every bird in the county seems bent of joining in the fracas.  Wrens, jays, cardinals, thrashers and mockingbirds all joined in the effort to keep the yard free of any menacing rat snakes.  

  Being as I was barefoot, I kept a close eye on the ground just in case a moccasin had come up out of the marsh.  The birds were only a few feet from the front door so I was able to stay on the board path.  Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.  Sad thing is...I never found a snake!  I found mushrooms.  Not that the birds would be in a tizzy over mushrooms but. as I was peering under the iron plant hoping to see a telltale sign of a snake, I found a whole cluster of white mushrooms.  The teeny things were not much larger than a butter bean and were just as cute as a button!  Now, some of you may be adept at identifying mushrooms but I admit to having difficulty in the area.  I leave them all alone to grow where they may.  These were in a "out of the way" spot so there was not even a worry about the old dog taking a nip of one so they can continue to decorate the garden.  

  One just never knows what might be found lurking beneath the bushes when the birds send up their alarm cries.  This time, I never found that snake and chances are good that it was staring at me and wondering why I was excited over a fungus!

Just Like In The Movies!

  More oft than not, the Bayou Neighborhood Watch is spot on with their calls.  I am referring to the network of blue jays who send up the alarm whenever a predator is near.  I can pretty much depend on the accuracy of their alarms...pretty much.   Then, again, if that predator is a fat and lazy thing, the alarm is moot.

  Yesterday evening, the alarms started.  This time, it was close...too close...and frantic...too frantic.  My first thought was that our huge resident rat snake had made an appearance in the arbor.  Since the seven foot long snake has not been seen in a while, this was the perfect chance to get a photograph.  With camera in hand, I slipped out the front door and eased my way to the east arbor.  Here the rose brambles were wild and woolly!  The neglected arbor seemed to be the perfect place for the snake to reside but no snake was found.  Instead of a threatening predator, I found a confused cat.  Fat and lazy, Ms. Nycto had been snoozing beneath the arbor when she was literally attacked by an angry mob of blue jays.  The bewildered cat had no idea what she had done to merit such a brutal awakening.  She darted beneath the house to escape leaving me to face the wrathful jays.  I was being dive-bombed from every angle and being hit by a bird is no fun.  It hurts!  This was like being in the midst of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds"!  It was not fun!

  Then I spied the source of all this ruckus.  About three feet from where Ms. Nycto had been napping, a baby jay was frozen in fear.  The little bird had obviously been learning to fly and made a crash landing next to the sleeping cat.  Once the parent birds realized how close their little one was to the potential predator, they sent up the call and every bird in the county seemed to come to their aid.  Once the cat made her retreat, the birds transferred their attack to me as I had nearly stepped upon the baby jay.  

  I picked up the little troublemaker and placed him high on the fence post.  There he could have another chance at a good takeoff without struggling too much.  With the birds still screaming at me, I made like the cat and took a hasty retreat. She and I did not need to be pelted by birds and Baby Jay needed to perfect his flying skills before it got too dark.

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.