Snakes in the Yard?

Last year, you may recall that we wrote a bit about the snakes that seem to have infested our backyard. We had hoped that a year of patrol would have cleared them out, but, alas, it seems that isn't the case.

This morning, while taking care of a few work-related things, my wife went out to put my tomato plants outside for a bit of sunshine. She ended up running inside and calling me, reporting that she had just seen the first snake of the season. Once I got home, I began my snake patrol again.

So what is snake patrol? It's when I grab my shovel and sweep through the grass, looking for movement. When I see a snake moving, I then use the shovel to try to break its neck (or maybe even chop its head off). In just my second trip around the backyard, I found Carrie's nemesis, quickly slithering around. So I took my trusty shovel to it, as you can see here.

What does it look like close-up? Check it out here.

If you look closely, you can see the two places where the shovel hit it. It was about a foot long, maybe a little more. We're thinking that it could have been the mother, which then presents the question. Did I get it before it could lay its eggs? If so, we may have taken care of the snake problem. If not, then you can probably expect a few more posts about snake patrol!