Oh, man. I wish I had snakes. Occasionally I see a black snake and get all happy. I have so many moles and voles that they've pushed up my flagstones and walking on the yard is an exercise in ankle strain. I admit to using Grub-X, but while the grass (non-mole spots) are looking like grass, evidently the moles and voles have something else to live on. I have a good snake story, though. I have this one area where even though I stomp on the mole trails, they redig them into a raised bed. I keep moving plants away from their trail, but inevitably they end up under this one heuchera. One day, I was standing in the yard talking on the phone. I saw something dark move near the heuchera, and couldn't figure it out. I thought it might be a hurt mouse or something. I don't know why I didn't think mole. Anyway, upon closer inspection, it was a snake backing into the mole trail away from me. He'd found a little smorgasboard. Unfortunately, he must have gotten full and left, because the moles are more than ever. But it was so cool to find this snake doing his think in the garden! I like snakes. Not big on spiders, but I like snakes. C.

i talk to anoles, too. :) in fact, we- me & the kids- put them and green tree frogs in the cool greenhouse for the winter to help with bugs. don't know that it's worked, but it is fun looking for them. the big male likes to sun on my bird's perch, and he likes to flirt with me, bobbing his provocative throat pouch at me so i'll be impressed. i bob back at him and tell him he's handsome. hb- i can't say that i'm too surprised the racer was striking under those circumstances. i think i'd try to bite, too. lol. glad he didn't take off. i haven't seen ours around since he got in the net, but didn't see him before that either, so no biggie. we sight a big king snake once or twice a summer- i think it's probably the same one we've been seeing for a number of years. we kept a couple rough green snakes as pets for a summer in our terrarium with some anoles and skinks, and they were so cool. they hung out and curled up into knots together- the thing that surprised me most- and were like living sculptures. the anoles got used to them within a day or 2. they were also complete pigs, which is part of why we let them go, fat & sassy, ready for fall. when we released them, they hung out in the same tree for a couple of days- i guess they thought it was a big cage. we got some good pix of them there. my kids and i wouldn't mind having another snake, but i don't want anything that eats furry things, which eliminates most of them, unfortunately. as an aside, i haven't found a single garter snake in the 13 years we've lived here. lots of other kinds, but no garters. i thought they were ubiquitous. probably one of the coolest was the ultra tame milk snake we found one day. gorgeous markings! worm snakes are cool, too. tam

No thanks Larry. Our older dog managed to kill 6 baby rabbits this spring but he didn't get all of them because when I was hand watering the peas this morn early I ran two the same size out of a 20 ft section. Then when DH was mowing this afternoon he ran one completely out of the garden and into the woods. And the dogs of course were way at the other end of the yard asleep under a bush.

I get garters, bulls and rattlers. Problem being that some of the bulls are so alike in color to the rattlers that I am not sure sometimes if I should let it go... or let it go headless. I wouldn't mind a few more around my place, I can pick them up at the swap lol. If you think about the phobia issues in this country there are quite a few: snakes, spiders, rodents, roaches, geese, horses, cows, dogs, etc. I think there is a phobia for just about everyone. I try not to let phobia get to me, but every so often, it sneaks up on me too. oakiris - holly- did you grow up in Maine? That is the only state I have heard of that does not have a poisonous snake. Just curious as to where else gets to make that claim. I grew up in AZ where I sometimes thought we had the most different types of poisonous snakes known to any region. Don't know if its true, but the one website shows 18 and somewhere around 50 non-venomous. Billie - Belinda