Glad Maeve didn't get a snake bite, but it's great to have a snake alarm! We had a ruckus here yesterday with a black snake in a Mockingbird nest. My husband got the snake out, but the babies fell out as the snake was getting around them. No babies were killed since we got there in time. They were sturdy enough and fast runners, but not ready to fly. I gently laid a towel over each one and then nudged them into a rounded, open plastic container. My husband put a paper towel over the top and gently dumped them back in the nest -- we didn't touch them with our bare hands. One baby tumbled out again, but the momma bird is feeding it. However, on the ground, it is really in danger. I'm very fond of the momma Mockingbird. She's been in my garden for a few years and follows me around all the time --even when I take a walk down our fence-lined neighborhood road. She's never been territorial with me, nor with Charm (when she was alive). Cameron

This snake is a hypomelanistic Banded Water Snake(Nerodia fasciata); the subspecies will depend on where it was found, as there is a Southern Banded and a Florida Banded. The hypomelanism gene is a co-dominant mutation which greatly reduces the amount of melanin, or black/brown pigment, leaving the other pigments to be much more noticeable. Reptiles, unlike us mammals, have more than one type of skin pigment. It's possible that this is a 'Super-Hypo', which means it is homozygous for the hypo gene, rather than the usual hypos which have a recessive gene for the normal skin coloration, which modifies the expression of the hypomelanism. I actually breed these snakes, and once had a Super-Hypo male that looked exactly like this snake. Here is a pic of him for comparison' [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Snake%20Photos/IMG_1681.jpg[/img] Here is a link that might be useful:

My best friend was going to buy some land in one of the Fla keys (maybe big pine key, can't recall) and she went to see the plot which had an old mobile home on it) and she saw a black racer snake, he went one way as fast as hell, and she went the other way, just as fast, I was right there, I smelled nothing. I have smelled cucumber really strong when cutting my grass, and I hadn't planted it in my garden, but, saw no snakes at all. I saw a black racer in my dogs yard several ( maybe 8 yrs ago) and I had to take it ( I used a rake) to a field across the driveway, and let it loose in the field, to get free, and I never smelled anything. My mom's dog was biting it on the head as it tried to get into a birds nest up in the Blue spruce tree. But, then again I'm talking about black racers, not Copperheads and rattle snakes. Rattlesnakes are super rare where I live, but, up the mountains about 30 miles from me, you will see Copperheads. I had seen one hell, maybe 25 years ago, while fishing with my ex-husband. There was a Copperhead lying out on a rock above the water where we were fishing. I never smelled a thing. Okay, I have already mentioned this stuff above. But, I will just prove Debbie above right, and I'll just post this stuff again, mostly because most folks don't bother to read all the posts on here from the bottom to the top. But, anyone who has smelled cukes and seen a snake post please.

We live in an area where our backyards all view a small lake. It is a private lake owned by those whose boundries enter the water. Many years ago, it was a watering hole for all the cattle headed to the Swift plant in the Fort Worth Stockyards. It is Trinity River fed, and quite large now. There have been many snake sightings. My DH killed a 4 ft snake in our fenced back yard several years ago, and it had several feet of tail missing from an earlier escape from a shovel. This happened while I ran to the store one day. He had to shoot it several times to stop it from lunging at him. Not an easy task for a one armed guy with a backyard full of dogs. I have had to call animal control on several occasions,when snakes were inbetween my dogs and the back door, and they are here within minutes. They know this area and how dangerous it can be when the weather gets warm. Sadly, I believe, I lost one of my older Lhasa's from a snake bite. He died so very suddenly, that I could have been nothing else. I believe he met his fate when he crawled under his doghouse to cool off. I hate snakes, and have found the cats playing with babies, INSIDE the house in the middle of the night. Yuk. When the neighbors shoot them, they typically hang them from a stake in full view as a prize catch for all to see. Not of all of the animal lovers would agree to this, but they are very aggressive, and, I am sorry, but the only snake I like, well.....is a dead one. We have removed all the bush landscape close to the house, as it seemed to be an ideal hideout for snakes every year. Now, can we talk about tarantulas? I do catch and release them. So I am not all about the kill, I promise. Trin