July 10, 2005

First Snake!

by Susan Rozmiarek

We had our first encounter with a snake out here. I was walking out the front door in the morning and saw a large, ~4.5 foot brown snake whipping across the front yard at high speed toward the house. In hot pursuit was a very bold (stupid?) mockingbird who was swooping down and pecking at him. When he got to the house he tried to climb up the rock side but couldn't. I ran in to grab the camera and holler at the boys to come and look. (I was positive he wasn't venomous due to the shape of his head) When we got out he was hiding in a corner behind an old propane tank up against the garage door.

He was pretty mad at being disturbed. He's raring back to strike at me here. I would have loved to have teased him a bit from the end of a long broom handle, but with the boys present I didn't want to set a bad example. They need to learn snake safety since I'm sure we'll run across more snakes out here, possibly poisonous ones.

After a bit of Googling, I determined that this guy is a Western Coachwhip. Apparently they are very aggressive when cornered and can inflict a nasty bite. I hope my curious dog doesn't encounter him.

Posted by Susan Rozmiarek at July 10, 2005 12:02 AM

Comments

Sequence of events: I'm putting together the June/July newsletter for the LHSRPOA, I read the hospitality report including your welcome since you moved in. I follow the link to your website and see this snake article. I learned what kind it was that shed his skin in my fish pond and took two of my fish with him. THANKS for the info and I'm taking out all my yuccas! :)
Pam Lee

Posted by: Pam Lee on July 27, 2005 9:10 PM
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