National Snake Count Week: Day 3- my friends' back yard! 9-19-2012

Well, two things... we wanted to bolster our snake counts for the week and we wanted to see our good friends Kate and Snag! They are the folks with the excellent Dekay's Snake habitat in their yard! We hadn't checked on the colony since July, so we were due to see if the two pregnant females had popped out successful litters!  Sadly, we found a flattened Dekay's in the road on the 2 minute walk up to their house.

Well, our first live sighting was a shoestring, so I'd say the births were indeed successful!


One rock yielded a tangle of snake... getting it under control, I realized I'd grabbed a Three-Pack! One medium sized and two wee ones!


Looks like one of the babies is ready to shed!

The next rock had an interesting specimen... we first noticed the incomplete shed. No real surprise- it's been fairly dry.

But check out that scar on his chest! He must have been ripped wide open!

It never ceases to amaze me how these guys, in the wild mind you, heal themselves with no medicine and no vets. And to think that I whine when I have a cold!

The next rock had two young 'uns, but one fell, bounced in the grass and slid away. This is the other:


Lastly, we found this wee one under a rock with an earthworm that was in absolutely NO danger of being eaten! In fact, an adult Dekay's would have enough trouble with a worm this size. This little guy just looks confused!


So, that was 8 snakes added to out 2012 Snake Week count, and it took all of about 5 minutes! We always thank the powers that be for our good friends... who put up with our twisted urge to look for snakes in their yard and still like us!! Thank you kindly, Kate and Snag!