RESCUE ALERT,,, not for the faint of heart, did freak me out though.

gahhhhhhhhhhhhh, I hope i never have to do this again, if it had been venomous i would have called my turtle rescuers to come deal. I guess their rescuing of turtles has rubbed off on me, and dead or alive, this thing had to be removed.

YUP< RAT SNAKE!!!! and a decent sized one at that. I got home from work, trying to beat the rain, and what was hanging in the chicken pen? hung up in the netting that keeps out the hawks and keeps the chickens in... YES i have rats, or HAD RATS????

I thought he was dead, but i poked him with a stick and i saw a wiggle. SO, i over came myself, and with a pair of scissors, but him from the netting and with a hoe, directed him back to the woods, LETS hope he learned his lesson. Luke says he would have come to the rescue if I had called, but that means waiting possibly up to an hour. If it had been venomous,,, I WOULD HAVE WAITED.

Please forgive the dumpy looking coop/pen.. Yes it needs work, and I've been meaning to go to Harbor Freight and get a mesh Tarp, rather than using the netting and throwing tree trimmings on top. The birds love it, maybe that's what the snake was after. People tell me they eat chickens, but so far i have not lost a chicken to a snake. I DO HAVE RATS... and a very muddy chicken pen.

DO you see him???? i think it was over 5 feet, I'm 5'2 and it was over my head a little, and tail almost on the ground.

well it is cute,,, kinda. and not so scary as others.

Taking a morning walk along the back side of the dam, where I keep a teeny strip of grass cut,,, Im working on getting it further but the briars are over my head, so its a slow go. I never know what i'll see back there. This little visitor isnt' as scary as some, but I know I have to really watch back there. there are larger snakes that hide beneath the wild black berries in hopes of catching a bird I guess? or stalking frogs that wander a bit too far from the run down pond. This one stood his ground and I got within a foot, NO I would never do that with a larger snake. I believe this is a ribbon snake.

snake File 2015

Its that time of year again,,, snakes and turtles and such are emerging. SO far the snakes are all non venomous and I believe most of these guys EAT THE bad guys. SO, I take pictures only for now, and wish them great hunting!!! I know there are water moccasins but haven't seen them yet, nor the box turtles. I've tried to identify, but not sure all are correct.
#1  Black Racer
#2  small garter catching a toad.
#3  TWO speckled king snakes, possibly getting married.
#4  yellow belly water or rat snake????? (I forget)

Taint ORange but it is kin.

Oh my, they surprise me every year when spring starts to bloom, not the first one of its kind to be seen this spring, but the first RED BELLY MUD SNAKE. Not my favorite critter but it is pretty and i can never resist poking them, well some of them, couldn't get a good head shot due to the growth around the pond, but still a great body shot maybe????