I concur that it is a hognose snake. They are not doing too well anymore (many ground nesting snakes are declining) so it's nice to see them!

You guys demonstrate my theory that cottonmouths are "passive-aggressive." Dangerous in that they don't move out of the path, often, and people who are not alert can step on them. Tales of them chasing people are usually highly exaggerated. This isn't to say it can't happen. Just that it's not a common behavior. My best cottonmouth story involved canoeing by myself on Rock Springs Run. I was in an area we call the Flats. Very shallow water, with a lot of grassy vegetation. Makes for slow canoeing as you try to glide through without digging up the bottom. I spotted a cottonmouth in the water, about 2 1/2 feet long, and close to the shore. It had a dead fish in its mouth. I don't think it killed the fish, but I can't be sure of that. But the fish looked REAL dead. It was a panfish of some type (bluegill, shellcracker, one of those) and quite wide, and this snake was trying its best to figure out how to swallow it. The snake worked its mouth slowly around the body of the fish, which was way, WAY too wide for it to swallow, and even tried to force it down sideways. The fish was probably ten inches long and no way was that snake going to get it down sideways. I let the canoe drift over fairly close, as I was enjoying the show. The snake finally began working its way towards the head of the fish, where it would have had the best chance to get it down, but suddenly noticed me or my canoe slowly nearing. If snakes could change expression, this one's eyes would have bugged out and his mouth would have dropped open. If they could talk, he would have been yelling "Holy Sheepdip! Where'd THAT come from??" He did a backflip away from the fish and took off for the weeds like a streak! It was so funny looking, I almost fell out of my canoe laughing at him. I always wondered if he came back later to finish working on the fish. But I didn't wonder about who was more scared by our encounter. He definitely was! Still...I am very careful on the river or in places where cottonmouths might lurk. They normally don't care if you approach them. I admire them, but I don't want to step on one or come face to face with one at any closer range than what I just described. I'm not NEARLY as brave as Wayne! Marcia

The one labelled Filipendula ulmaria looks more like Humulus (hop). If it is - expect vigorous climbing activity - soon. The leaves may feel sand-paper-y. Keep it away from gutters and roofs. It burrows, swells, and loosens... The spear-leafed one on p1 looks like an arum, not sure of variety. They usually die down in summer and return in autumn. The seeds may be poisonous. Ask locally, as these are often persistant in old gardens. You may find that Lamiastrum galeobdolon has rule the world tendencies. And it does its best to climb trees, etc. Keep it out of your compost heap unless truly dead, not just limp.

Jo, any time you catch and release a critter, you can pretty well plan on it coming back. It's fine to be a humanitarian about it, just as long as you know that's what they're going to do. I think that some of them can beat you back to the property, and dumping them where they'll be a problem for someone else is not a very good plan either. I hate to have to shoot things, but there are times when it's really the only thing to do. Dawn, I know what you mean abut every day being an adventure. When I went out to check the tomatoes earlier, I found a small turtle that was feasting on a small fruit I had tossed aside. Not a terrapin. An actual turtle. I just left him alone. One of the more exciting things that happened is that I have a big bank of windows in front of my computer and around to the side, so I get a really good view of most of the pasture. One day during the heavy snow, in the middle of the afternoon, I saw something swoop down and grab a small prey and then fly up to the top of one of the sheds. I figured it was a hawk. Naturally, I got out the big binocs, because I wanted a closer look. Imagine my amazement when he turned his head and looked at me and I realized it was not a hawk at all. It was a huge owl, out hunting in mid-day! As far as those black snakes, we tried the artificial eggs, and I tried jamming the holes full of bird netting, and we shot a bunch of them. I was horrified to learn that they can kill a full-grown hen. My neighbor who raises chickens as a business is the one who told me what the problem was, after I had him come and look at a dead bird. What seemed to finally cut the population way down was when I put out that Snake Stopper powder. I've only done it once, and probably need to renew it pretty soon, but we haven't found a snake in the chickenhouse since then. Not that they can't come in and steal eggs and leave again. I just haven't seen any of them this summer. I scattered the powder when I figured snake season was about to begin, as soon as it really warmed up, and it seems to be working.. Pat