Catching this beautiful little black garter snake this morning brought back some fond memories of my childhood. I caught two snakes today, this one and a copperhead, which I will talk about in a bit. This little guy was chilled out where I grow my peppers, it was probably stalking the one of the abundant insects or little frogs that love these peppers so much for some reason. No need to relocate him, he is a welcome sight for me, helps keep things in a healthy balance in the garden. Most snakes, if not all snakes, have a place and a role in nature, and lucky for me there are but a couple of poisonous snakes to contend with around here, I will get to that in a bit.
Growing up in southeastern Texas gives a person plenty of opportunity to be exposed to snakes, reptiles, and a good variety of wildlife. My wife will be the first to tell me that most people with an ounce of common sense have an inordinate fear of snakes. But I was different in the beginning when I was very young, I had a fascination with snakes. In my school days I remember seeing a big rattlesnake coiled up underneath my dad’s work truck and, according to my mother, I was stopped shy of grabbing it, which probably saved my life according to my parents.
I remember a time when I caught a small garter snake and approached them with it in a gentle and educational way, and they both began to panic. I was trying to show them how I hold it and how I respected it as a wild creature. I spent allot of time as a kid learning to understand the difference between poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes. An early introduction to snakes knocked any fear of snakes right out of me and since then I have always enjoyed having a snake companion through the years after that even if it was just long enough to carry one home and release into my mother’s garden where it can do some good.
I don’t mind catching a nonpoisonous snake whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, I have a healthy respect for the poisonous ones and give them their space unless they happen to be close to where kids might play, then I may help them relocate or to get on to the great beyond like this copperhead found in my yard below the evil grapefruit tree I was going to take pictures of for y’all. Notice that his head has been severed, yet she is biting herself. A poisonous snake with his head severed can still bite for a long time, many hours, if not days, after it has been cut off. I don’t bury heads, things dig up buried things, it goes into the burn can for disposal.
I detest people who simply kill a poisonous snake indiscriminately just for the sake of killing it. When possible, I relocate the snake, sometimes they just too close though, I have allot of young feet pounding my yard, so I like to keep it as safe for the small human children as I can. There are four kinds of venomous snakes living in Texas, we encounter all but one regularly here in southeast Texas, the coral snake. Now, copperheads, cottonmouths (water moccasins) and rattlesnakes are pretty much everywhere all the time. Where I live my property backs up to the river and I also have a 4 1/2 acre pond, so I see those three pretty regularly.
I will be jointly posting this information on Guide To Ball Pythons because the information just might be beneficial there for readers. For those of y’all who have yet to visit then this would be a good time to see what I’m doing there as well.
Yes, it’s true, my family and I will be going on vacation tomorrow, to a place undisclosed to anyone except me. Sure, they know we are going somewhere but don’t know where that somewhere actually is. So, since they view this blog daily I will not be able to disclose any details except when. And, the only reason I am doing that is so when you don’t see me posting you don’t think I’m dead or something. As a bonus, I might even tell y’all about it when I get back. Deal? This short vacation will not only affect The Sting Of The Scorpion Blog but will also mean I will not be posting on Guide To Ball Pythons as well. I do have a post for the Guide that will post today and, of course, I’m not done here yet either. Hopefully y’all will not miss me too much and realize I’ll be back real soon.
Guide To Ball Pythons Blog is a guide based on my 30 years of experience handling ball pythons as well as other very useful resources I have found. It’s about sharing what I know, what I’ve learned, and providing a “go to” place for people with questions looking for answers.
The Sting Of The Scorpion Blog (T.S.O.T.S.B.) 