SNAKES ... AND BIGGER SNAKES

It already seems as if this will be a year for snakes here on my homestead.  I don't know if the cool, wet Spring has been the culprit, but at various times & places on my property this year, I have found a snake or two.

Besides the snake I found in my kitchen -- which I wrote about on this blog back on April 20th -- I have since had several "encounters" -- all of the "third kind" -- with various species & sizes of snakes on my property.  They are everywhere this year.

This past weekend I had to "save" an 18 inch Garter Snake from my cat Nibblets.  "Miss Nibs" was having a good bit of fun -- for her, not the snake -- going back & forth in the grass with the frightened snake.  Since cats very seldom understand or respond to the word "NO" -- & that held true in this case -- I had to pick up the snake & transport it to a safer place in the yard.

I have always been interested in snakes.  I had a few as "pets" back in my Memphis days.  It's just when it comes to reptiles, I prefer turtles & lizards.

I am always surprised -- & a bit P.O.ed -- when I hear other people react so negatively about snakes.  [The same people seem to love their Pit Bulls !!]  These people have such a fear of snakes, that to them, all snakes are an object to be killed.

Today, my John Deere mower was returned from the dealer.  While talking with the guy who brought the mower back, we both saw a large (three foot) snake cross over the road, into my yard.  I guess my visitor was surprised I did not immediately rush over & kill the offending reptile, rather than allow it to proceed across the front lawn, which I did. 

The snake -- a Black Rat Snake -- is a regular on the property & I often see it in various places in the yard.  I'll probably see the snake a lot more, but not that delivery fella.

Now someone reading this will think a three foot snake is big.  No ... the snake in the photo below is BIG.

This is my friend Bill Lamar, with a Bushmaster ... a snake he collected this past weekend in the Amazon Basin of Peru.  This BIG snake is about 8-10 feet long.  And "yes" ... it is poisonous !!

I have known Bill Lamar for over 40 years & have been with him on trips to Central & South America. He leads tourists on trips to the jungle through his company Green Tracks. He also works with TV producers for shows on channels such as Animal Planet & National Geographic.  Bill is the one who collects the snakes & places them in the spot where the TV host being filmed can "discover" the animal.

Obviously, a BIG snake in Bill's jungle, is a LOT bigger than the "visitors" to my yard.