i'm happy that you were able to free the snake neohippie, and i'm very glad to have the info- thanks! and just fyi (everyone); the very fine black bird netting will also trap snakes- they can't back out of it. i discovered a beautiful one hanging dead in my berry patch. -and it traps birds too, so check out the piles of netting you have in sheds and garages and put it in plastic bags. i found this out the sad way one summer long ago and have never used it since. min

This is a harmless neonate Midland Water Snake(Nerodia sipedon pleuralis), either a red-phase or hypomelanistic color morph, both of which are common in this subspecies, especially in certain locales. The coloration becomes more intense(red/orange)as they mature. I breed several species of Nerodia as a hobby and I used to have a pair of these, but sold them.

Hi Nancy ... we do enjoy all of our woodpeckers. They all come to the feeders. I create a bird buffet on our front porch each winter to have a large covered area of comfort for them. Heated birdbath and such. We get to see the pileated babies also and their hairdos are something to behold. Could we call it spiked? We had a nest of them in our next door neighbors yard a few years back. That was really cool to get to see them feeding, etc. You can see the those photos begin here. You can close the window and look to the left. I was blessed to get a short video of Pale-billed Woodpeckers in Costa Rica with a baby popping in and out of the hole shouting for food. It was pretty high up in the canopy so it's a bit shaky but the parent returns with something and he really pops out of that hole. The parent seemed to be bothered by me, so I stopped filming to leave.

Omar- I actually had 2 cats and the second died when he was 19 about 4 years after Chuck died at 16. I cried for days when they died. I'm tearing up now writing this and this all happened about 15 years ago. I swore off getting another cat because I knew there was no way they'd be as awesome as those two and it hurt so bad when they died. Well Dale's son spent a year in Afghanistan and we cat sat Root Beer for him while he was gone. It reminded me of all the great things about having a cat. So when a friend called about a homeless kitten she was trying to find a home for, I went and looked. I distinctly remember holding her when I decided to take her home and thinking "this is going to hurt so bad when you die." I guess that's part of the difference between having pets in your 20's and having pets in your 40's. But it's worth it. She's different than my first two, but still a great cat. We have three dogs now- all "dump dogs"- people have dumped them in the country and they showed up on our doorstep. We've fostered out at least 10-12 others over the years. I doubt I would ever buy a dog with papers- there's plenty of people looking for them at whatever price is charged. But there's thousands of rescues looking for homes in shelters. Some of them have papers if that's important to you. Why not get a rescue dog and save a life? Omar- rethink having a pet. Yes you'll probably outlive them and it will suck. But waking up every morning to an animal that has nothing but unconditional love for you is something very special. Lisa