A. It's only May, but hot is coming. It has been a very cool spring, but yesterday afternoon the steering wheel burned my hands, and that means summer is nearly here, regardless of the calendar. We'll hit the 90s this week, and that also means jeans are out, shorts are in. Except I don't seem to have more than one pair of shorts, so I had to put on a skirt today.
B. Skirts and Crocs are clearly bad news. The last time I wore a skirt this happened. And what do you think happened today? In pictures:
"Good morning, sunshine!" That's what this big rat snake said to the boys when they went out for their morning chores and found her in a nest box.
How did we know it's a rat snake? Check out the eyes. Round pupils, harmless. Cats-eye pupils, run! Also, rat snakes climb, and copperheads don't. Early morning nature study :)
This is the back end of one of our Barred Plymouth Rocks. She didn't seem to care that there was a snake in her nest box.
After a minute of trying to get comfortable, she realized those weren't eggs under her, and she hopped out for a better look. I wish I knew what she was thinking!
The snake, however, decided she didn't like being sat on by a big, fat hen. She exited the scene slowly, while the boys shouted "Ooh!" and "Ahh!" and "Look at the egg in her middle!"
Pardon the grody chicken poop. Friday is coming--Caiden's weekly coop cleaning day. Notice instead how l-o-n-g this snake is! I'm guessing around 5 feet. Not that I got close enough to touch her.
But the boys did! Caiden is closing in for a touch,
and Grayson followed suit. Addie and I opted to stay back and take pictures.
So there you have it. Summer is coming, and it's too hot to wear pants, but clearly skirts are out, because I don't want to wake up to her again!
Eeeee Gad Sarah! I was the mother of 3 boys who loved all things critterly. But eeeee gad girl! You are more of a man than me for sure. Well .. you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI bow to YOU!!
EEEEKS!!! That snake is huge! I'm glad it wasn't the poisonous variety, but still, if it's bigger than an earthworm, it's too big for me! :) I'm terrified of snakes (big, small, poisonous, not poisonous... it really doesn't matter.)
ReplyDeletep.s. LOVED your sister's story about calling the vet. Funny, funny, funny!!
Oh Sarah. You are very brave indeed.
ReplyDeleteSnakes terrify me.
And hey, you found your camera??? ;)
Good night Nurse, and Thank You God that didn't happen while I was staying there. I would have had a heart attack, or at least stopped breathing for a second or ten.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found your camera!
ReplyDeleteBut, not that snake ! :(
I think this secretly happened because you bought a new camera. Nothing this crazy happened when your old one was lost!!! You caused this. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, remember when I was staying there for the week you and ChrisPace went out of town, and I had to call you guys to figure out what to do with a snake? SCARY! Hahaha and Pace was like.. "well, what do the eyes look like?" There was no way in the world I was getting close enough to a snake to see what the eyes looked like. Good times at the Hartfield house!!
Sarah, you are such a good storyteller! We were just discussing NC snakes and the one our Pastor's wife found napping on her porch :(. I guess snake season is here everywhere!
ReplyDeleteOh Mercy! You are brave to stand anywhere around and just get photos! WOW!
ReplyDeleteAaaahhhhhhh - yuck, yuck, yuck. I wouldn't have been able to stand around to take pictures.
ReplyDeleteI would have gone running and never set foot in there again. You are a brave woman!
ReplyDeleteOh my! That was very educational.
ReplyDeleteCrazy...my morning started the SAME WAY!!! Just kidding. Actually just grading and coffee.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm completely amazed by the picture of the hen just seemingly talking to the snake in her nest box. So strange.
It's always something...
wow.
ReplyDeleteI've already posted on one blog this morning about "momma needs a new camera" this just validates my need. right?
amazing pictures. thank you for the snake lesson. i did not know about the eyes, but then how do you get close enough to tell, especially if you running the other direction?
how do you know it was a she? and lastly...
the chicken looking at the snake...classic!
i think you should have a contest: "caption this" or "what is she thinking"
i want to grow up with your kids!
Sarah, I have a great idea for you....name her!
ReplyDeleteMaybe "Louise the Larger," in homage to the snake from the "A Wrinkle in Time" series. Maybe "Jane" or "Katherine" if you are a Bronte fan. We named our dog "Lizzie" after Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, but I sometimes wonder if it was more for Lizzie Borden.
Anyway, giving her a name that imparts fond feelings does wonders on your outlook and may help you focus on the fact that she is perfectly harmless and as a rat snake will help to provide safe and natural pest services for the small price of an egg once or twice a month. :o)
We named our resident grass snake "Jeff Gordon," so my hatchet-wielding husband would not break Tatum's heart by permanently ending his hunt for geckos. We knew he could never kill Jeff Gordon and he found that he actually became friendly toward him after time. LOL
~ Laurie
Oh dear Sarah!!! I don't care what type of snake it is - It scares me - you are one awesome woman! I showed this to Colin of the boys touching it - He is so impressed!
ReplyDeleteI would FREAK out. How far up did that snake climb?
ReplyDeleteThe first thought that popped into my head when I saw this, and knew that you'd gotten close enough to take these photos, is the summer you stayed with me and shrieked until I thought someone nearby would call 911, at the little grasshoppers on my back porch.
ReplyDeleteMy, my, Sarah. You've come a LONG way. LOL
I'm with your mother on this one. My heart would stop. Round pupils or cat eyes...I wouldn't stick around long enough to discover the difference.
OH no!! I would have ran!! I came home from work a few saturdays ago and laid my son down in his crib for a nap and went to do dishes..I felt something was off like I was being watched and I looked right down below my cabinets and there was a long black snake lifting its head to look at me!! haha my neighbors said I sounded like a screaming banshee!! Unfortunatly we have yet to find the snake and I am making my son wear big rubber boots around the apartment haha..---you are a brave woman!
ReplyDelete