Wildlife @ The Ranch

Geez. Found what was I think a copperhead last weekend, at the bottom of a drain spout. Not very big, seemed like 18 inches or so, but still...where there's one that size, there are others that are bigger.

Hard to be sure...the pattern wasn't that well defined. Maybe a cottonmouth...it didn't open its mouth, which would have been a dead giveaway.

Definitely not a rattler...It did wiggle its tail some like a rattler, but The Ranch is too far north, anyway.

I gave it some flying lessons while transferring it to a location at the edge of the property. Hope I don't see it again.

We have a couple of other snakes, but they're harmless ones.

Pretty sure I saw a bigger cottonmouth a year ago while mowing...it didn't occur to me about it being one at the time, or I'd have driven over it to be sure it was dead. I'd have driven over this one, too, except I figure it was going to run away while I went to get the mower...Thus the flying lessons.

And now I have to have my boots on all the time outside. Not that I don't like my boots, I do, but now I have to watch out all the time.

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a month later: took the dog along to get gas when i drained the mower to the bottom...coming back, partway along the driveway, we saw a big black dog we hadn't seen before just standing there..."Look, Gabby" I said. "There's a dog we don't know. What kind of dog is that? It's tall, like Russian wolfhound maybe?" Then it turned to go back in the woods and I realized it was not a dog at all--it was a BEAR! A black bear. A young bear. Which means that larger Momma Bear and Papa Bear are around somewhere.

And I had forgotten to take my phone with me to get gas, so I don't have a photo of it. AAARRRRGGG!!!