Today I was going out my front door to walk and almost stumbled across this rattle snake. My son Chris says I was crazy to take pictures of it since they move so quickly. I really didn't get too close and used my zoom lense. I didn't realize how quickly they can move...but now I do!
I was going to do a little trimming of shrubbery in the front yard this week. I think I will leave it to the professionals since I saw the snake head directly into the bushes!
Update: A visitor to my blog believes this slinky reptile to be a gopher snake. I must say I am relieved because Casey, my dog, isn't smart enough to stay clear of predators in the garden.
7 comments:
This is actually a gopher snake, when I lived in Marin County I had several that lived in my yard. One of them was quite docile and would let me pick it up and handle it without any fuss. If gopher snakes are taking up residence in your yard you can bet you have rats as well, this snake will take care of any rodents that are hanging out.
I hope you are right. I didn't get that close but I thought I saw something on the tail end which was rattlelike.
the greenish color and the checkerboard pattern is a giveway.. what's funny is when startled they will sometimes shake their tails like a rattler,but they do't make a sound. Here's the Wikipedia entry for this charming snake.
do they hiss? I guess all snakes hiss? what a dumb question.
reason I am asking .. this evening there was a similar looking snake near our garage door (tracy, ca). I was trying to get the snake into a shoe box, and in the process (or my fear), I hammered the snake on its head with a small stick. feeling very bad I did this. this small snake (looks similar to your photograph) I killed is now in the shoe box/trash.
but, i am trying to identify what it is i killed. am really scared and don't want to open the shoe box now. sigh
Not feeling too great about killing the snake. I was really trying to prevent the snake from entering the garage and making it his home (maybe it was his home!!!!).
Opened the shoebox this morning. Took a few photos of the dead snake. It does seem to resemble the gopher. Though, I'm no expert.
Am really glad it was a very small snake. Anything bigger, I would have run out of the garage. Quite frankly, when encountering a snake for the very time as I did, fear really strikes in your heart. My daughter running behind me trying to have a fleeting glimpse of the hissing one. A small snake, big snake, doesn't matter. To make matters worse, our neighbour's dog was barking for atleast 1 hour prior to this. Couldn't figure out what was the matter. There is a fence seperating the two.
Your blog looks interesting. Need to pick up some gardening tips from you.
Happy July4th everyone.
Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu.
May this world be established with a sense of well-being and happiness.
Me and a friend of mine find these in my yard all the time, they are really fast but can be easily coaxed in with a box and a dead rat (Feeder rat of course) and to my surprise they are easily tames, i caught a wild one two years ago and still have it today
Me and a friend of mine find these in my yard all the time, they are really fast but can be easily coaxed in with a box and a dead rat (Feeder rat of course) and to my surprise they are easily tames, i caught a wild one two years ago and still have it today
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