I was checking water troughs this morning and noticed something long and black lying by a tree root in the sun. It was the black snake! As soon as I walked over, it crawled to the nearest tree, slithered up the trunk and in through the wire mesh we have wrapped, and sequestered itself in the "nest" formed by the three tree trunks!
Where is Dickens when you need him? He was nowhere to be found, but my daughter ran inside to get my camera so we could take some photos and identify the snake.
At first I thought it was a black racer - but I think it's a black rat snake due to the keeled scales. It was very alert to me and where I was, but what a smart place to settle in, safe from cats and donkey hooves. I think it has been injured slightly just by its left eye, probably the mark of a certain cat who thinks he's a mongoose.
The black rat snake eats rodents, frogs, lizards, and other snakes, so he is welcome to stay and help maintain balance in our little ecosystem.
6 comments:
Wow. Beautiful snake. I think this is the kind of snake I rescued from the road last week. He left a very distinctive smell on my hands afterward. . .
Matthew, I read about the black rat snake that they often emit an odor when threatened!
This one didn't, but I did NOT try to touch it. :)
Billie, do you think you could get an eye patch on the snake just until he heals up? Dickens could help hold him down...
You're a better woman than me. I am so petrified of snakes, someone(husband) would have been called to remove him from the premises. I'd never have gotten close enough for a picture that's for sure.
Sheaffer, I'm not sure about the eye patch - that would require some very fancy handwork! It looks like a scale was torn off, and I am assuming it will be repaired when the snake sheds its next skin???
Arlene, I wouldn't want it to fall on me from above, but it was very reasonable and kept a respectable distance from me. I did get pretty close taking some of the photos, but I think the wire mesh emboldened me. :)
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