MORE VISITORS

It does seem rather odd that with my life long fascination with turtles, so many of the local shelled reptiles seem to find their way on to my property each year. It's not as if I live on the shore of a lake or river. "Major water" is at least a quarter of a mile from here, as the crow flies -- or in this case -- as the turtle crawls.

Still, turtles are not my only reptile visitors.

This morning -- while doing my daily "A.M. inspection" -- I encountered this three & a half foot Blue Racer Snake. He, or she, is a "regular", as I have met up with this snake -- or it's twin -- on several occasions. It's pretty calm for a Racer; the species is known to be aggressive at times & will try to bite. They will even sometime appear to "chase" people. [I've had such encounters. But that was in New York State. (Ya all know how those Northerner's can be.)]

With some prodding -- as I tried to get the photos -- this snake did do one of it's noted defensive traits: It vibrated the tip of it's tail very fast, producing a sound in the bamboo debris much like a Rattlesnake's defensive rattle.

Sometimes the equitation is: Snake + sound = some people claiming to have had a close encounter with a "Black Rattlesnake". All it really means is a harmless, beneficial snake gets killed for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They are safe with me.

Another good defensive technique this snake can utilize is in the photo above: Stay in the Poison Ivy !! The "Leaf-Of-Three ... Let-It-Be" is directly below the snake & in the upper right hand corner of the picture. On my land, it's not the animals to fear ... it's the plants.

NOTE: If some scientist ever finds some medical value for Poison Ivy -- such as a cure for Cancer -- I'm going to be a multi-millionaire !! I grow it everywhere on my property.

Everyday is an adventure around here. I never know who/what/ where & when "visitors" will arrive.