My friend who lives in the woods told me today that she has a box turtle who keeps coming back to her trailer to eat dog food and ask for a drink of water. Her chihuahua seems to enjoy his company! Tammy, one time I backed over one with my car on the driveway. I am "marked" for life by that event, it was so traumatic. I just wish the powers that be in Washington would have as much kinship for Iraqui children and Lousiana families as we do for turtles and frogs. Maybe someday, when we are no longer on this earth plane, we will understand the intricacies of the human heart. I love this quotation: "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?" At some point, a leader must emerge in the western world who echoes the humanity of Gandhi. peace, claire in sanford Wonderful meeting you and your family too!

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

Hi Wayne, I also love snakes and do my best to relocate them, but a few years ago we came across a very pretty snake that was after a toad in my yard. I live in deep south Texas, 7 miles from the Mexican border just to give you the territory of where the snake was found. This snake was about 2 feet at most and was a light tan color with extreme pronouced brown diamonds. It was the end of February and a cool morning (low 70s) so it was moving very slow. My kids were looking at the toad and I noticed what I thought was a stick next to the toad and grabbed it to move it out of the way when I suddenly realized what it was. I dropped it right away but it moved very slow due to the cool morning. we put it in a container and took it out to a shrubby area just outside of town. Somehow I have always wondered what that snake was as I have never seen one like that before. My thought is that it may have been a copperhead snake since they range from really light to reddish copper to really dark almost black colors depending what part of the valley they are found. Still those diamonds were very pronounced on a short and thick snake. We have quite a few species down here but few poisonous ones. Any thoughts? Josie

Happy Friday.... I have not been around to open Jeannes Christmas in July package, which arrived a few days ago. And she also included my poetry prize....very cool! And here are the 12 days of Christmas from Jeanne.....how fun! *Christmas card and inside a 12 days of Christmas word search game *Partridge in a Pear Tree.....Jeanne sent Pear preserves and a mug mat (made by Jeanne....love it) and in the pocket of the mug mat is American Classic Tea. The tea is the only tea grown in the U.S. and is grown at the Charleston Tea plantation in SC. *Turtle Doves...a white bird with a clip so I can attach to my Christmas tree, a gift ect *French Hens...Puffy Pancake recipe which uses eggs....a family favorite. *Calling Birds....CD with Christmas songs "Home For The Holidays"...the birds not only call, they sing....LOL! *Golden Rings...."Extra Golden" California Poppy Seeds *Geese a Laying....an artificial egg and the egg layed "Interesting and Amazing Information On Geese"...................a got educated on Geese! *Swans a Swimming.....a white wash cloth which reminded Jeanne of a swan.....and it is a soft one too! *Maids a Milking.....Milky Way candy bars *Ladies Dancing....They are dancing to the music on the CD....LOL! *Lords a leaping...Star package tie ons.....leaping to reach the stars. *Pipers Piping....A bookmark with Jeannes horse Piper.....How cool!!! *Pipers Piping and Drummers Drumming.....A steno pad....and on the cover of the pad are pipers piping and drummers drumming..... Jeanne, thank you so much! I absoloutley love my 12 days of Christmas......very, very clever. And thank you for my prize! Your surgery was on Tuesday. Thoughts and prayers......be well. Annie