Why Kill It?

  I guess living on the Bayou has presented me with so many opportunities to interact with critters that I have learned to respect them. Not respect them out of fear but respect them merely as lifeforms that deserve to live just as much as I do.  I observe.  I learn.  Critters are smart and have developed methods that work to help them survive when the odds are against them.  I hate it when people are the biggest threat against most critters.  Humans will be the death of all lifeforms soon enough so I figure there is absolutely no reason that I should hasten it along.

  One of my biggest peeves with folks is their mentality that the "only good snake is a dead snake".  People!  People!  What are you thinking? Sure, I will be the first to admit that if a cottonmouth is adamant about living right at my front door or in my laundry room, it has got to go. If it refuses to move (swiftly) down to the marsh, it will be (sadly) killed. If it stays in the marsh or away from the house, even a venomous snake can go about its daily business with no fear of being clobbered by me. All nonvenomous snakes are welcome to linger around a bit.  I am actually happy to have them in the garden or yard.  Killing snakes just because they are snakes is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard.  Folks do not even care to identify a snake..."KILL IT!" is the only thing on their brain.

  I was sad to hear that today one of my friends did just that.  A sweet little snake ventured onto her patio and the entire group of her friends went berserk.  The critter never stood a chance.  Afterwards they had the thought to ask for an identification.  Turns out, the snake was a southeastern crowned snake and is an especially good snake to have about the place.  They never get very big and eat all sorts of things like centipedes and termites.

  I am so proud of my kids. While they were just young'uns, I tried to teach them about respect for critters...snakes included.  They grew into awesome adults who would never dream of harming an animal.  I must say that they are good folks and it does a mother's heart proud!  Just recently, my daughter's dogs were having conniptions in the yard.  She went out to investigate the cause of their uproar and found a snake. Instead of panicking and reaching for a hoe or shovel, she calmly brought in the dogs, took a picture and tried to identify the snake.  Yep, it was a harmless plain bellied watersnake.  No need to worry about that one!  She did exactly what she was supposed to do.  Reaching for that gardening tool to attack the snake could have been met with a nasty strike had this been a venomous snake.

Watersnake that my daughter found in her yard.  The snake was allowed to go on its merry way!

  This is not the first time that Elizabeth "did the right thing" regarding snakes.  Even when she was a small tyke, she came to tell me about a snake in the garden.  While picking squash, she found a cottonmouth under one of the plants.  She came out of the garden and calmly informed me of the moccasin.  (Yep, even at that age, she had learned to identify a cottonmouth.)  We managed to shoo the critter from the garden where it was invariably trying to catch its breakfast.  Funny part about that tale is that she still managed to pick the squash from the plant that was covering the moccasin!  She knew....and the snake knew, that there was no reason to overreact.

  I did make an attempt to teach my sweet friend about the snake she found on her patio.  Did it sink in so future snakes will not be needlessly killed?  I doubt it.  Most folks do not want to hear that snakes can be friends.  All they want to hear are things like "Its a cottonmouth!  Kill it!"  "That is a copperhead!  Kill it!".  They do not want to hear "It is a southeastern crowned snake.  It is good to have in your yard.  Let it live!"  That bit of information is usually met with disdain.

  Yep, I am sure proud that my kids have learned to respect life...all life and treat critters the way they are supposed to be treated.

Sometimes things just fall in your lap!

  Years and years ago, Momie (my grandmother-in-law) told me a story of how when she lived behind Mark's family home, a snake fell right in her lap.  She had a small mobile home that was parked in their backyard so she could be nearby yet have her own little place.  It was great.  She could sit outside under the large pecan tree and watch her grandchildren play in the yard.  While out there, she usually snapped beans, shelled peas or peeled her potatoes for the evening meal.  Momie was the typical little lady of the times that wore house-dresses and aprons.  One day while snapping green beans, a green snake fell from the limbs of the pecan tree and landed smack dab on her lap!  She let out a scream, grabbed the corners of her apron and tossed the snake right back up into the tree!  While she giggled about the incident years later, at the time, she was terrified!  She hated snakes so to have one in her lap was not to her liking!

  Today, a dear friend came to the Bayou.  She and I picked berries, walked the hillside and sat on the pier all the while talking a blue streak! Later we moved to the wicker chairs in the rose garden.  There, our conversation continued and we covered just about everything under the sun.  She made the off-handed comment that she did not like snakes. She understood the fact that they are needed on this old earth and did not have a problem with them as long as they kept their distance. She always kept her eyes open when walking.  Good idea!  But I responded that there were probably more snakes up in trees than most folks realized.  That said, the unbelievable happened.

  Just moments after I had made the statement, she was startled by something in the oak tree behind me. At first, she thought a bird flew from the tree but soon realized that a "limb" was moving!  "That is no limb!  THAT is a snake!"  I turned just in time to see a rat snake slowly moving from the oak tree onto the rose arbor that extended over our heads.  Yep, more snakes are climbing about those trees!

  I was really proud of Darlene as she helped me to keep track of where the snake was making its way through the rose canes and onto the jasmine. As I photographed the snake, she kept pointing to where it was going next. When I tried to remove the snake, she showed no fear but was rather fascinated by the whole ordeal.  She was great!

  Later after she left the Bayou, I heard the blue jays starting up their racket.  I knew our friendly snake had made it to the Black Gum tree outside of the rose garden.  When I checked, the rat snake was making its way up the tree to find another hunting area.  I guess any birds or squirrels nearby had better keep their eyes open!  That snake was on the move!

Its Snakey Out There!

  My hike around the hillside could have turned out a lot differently had I not been alert.  In a matter of thirty minutes, I came across seven different snakes.  While most of these were nonvenomous Diamondback Water Snakes, two were Cottonmouth Moccasins.  Had I not been careful, one of those moccasins could have dealt me a mighty blow. Snakes are out.  Due to the unreasonable amount of rainfall we have had and, also, due to the crazy high tides, the snakes are being flooded out of their natural habitats and into mine.  They are seeking higher ground like most everything else.

  The only thing I can see bad about having the snakes out of their normal territory is that they will be hunting food and the baby birds do not stand a chance.  Not many adult birds can do a thing if a snake decides to raid a nest.  The birds can swoop, dive and peck but most of this is to no avail against a predator with determination.  I have had to literally pull snakes from nests and that is no easy task!  Pulling a snake from a bunch of vines is sort of like what I would imagine trying to move a stubborn elephant by pulling its trunk!  Snakes twist and turn around vines and tree limbs making it almost impossible to move.  Add to this the chance of getting bitten (even by a nonvenomous snake) and things get a bit hairier!  I am no fan of tangling with any snake when it is angry and pulling that tail might just be what it takes to rile even the most docile of beings.

  All in all, it was a fine day for snake watching but I do warn folks that the snakes are being pushed out of their environments.  They will be where you least expect them so be careful!