Snakes On A Farm

Dear readers, it's January.  The LAST thing you'd expect to see in January (besides ripe homegrown tomatoes) is a snake.  Well, I saw one.  In the snake's defense, it has been pretty warm the last few days.

Here it is, sunning itself on my sidewalk next to a rock.

I had been enjoying the feel of the freshly laid egg in my hand and wasn't really looking where I was going.  Granted, the snake was so tiny (probably about a foot or so long) that its teeth wouldn't have gone through my boot, but I really don't need any more holes in my boots.  I was very proud of myself that all I said was "eek" very quietly instead of hollering out at top volume all of the other things that went through my mind. 

Mind you, I do have a barn cat that has been known to eat snakes.  So I started hollering "KITTY KITTY KITTY" at the top of my lungs.  Two cats came sauntering over--one was the hunter, and one wasn't. 

This is Callie Co.  She's obviously NOT the hunter.  I think she's trying to hug the snake.

So, I got the bright idea of getting a stick and relocating said snake.  After all, "he" wasn't too big, and was still pretty lethargic.  I found the perfect stick.  I picked up the snake.  It was almost an out of body experience--I felt like I was watching myself trying to get this thing across the road.  Mind you, I try not to kill snakes.  They do us a service.  But this guy was just a little too close to my own personal house that has a hole in the wood chute door into the cellar.  Creep factor extraordinaire.

As I was gingerly carrying the snake towards the road to put in the field there, Claire The Great White Hunter started to pay attention.  The snake also started to become a little disillusioned with the stick.  At least the snake didn't crawl up the stick towards my arm, but it writhed around a little bit and fell off the stick, right in front of Claire.  That cat knows her job. 

Claire eliminating the snake

So, all's well that ends well.  I'm pretty sure that tomorrow will be a snake-free day . . .just one more day in the life of the Fearless Farm Frau.