The packing is gone in the hose bib and it leaks. I guess he hangs out
in the hedge above it to ambush prey looking for a drink. Well I went to
turn it off and he was there and "jumped" down.





















 

I know they are, but man they still can make you pucker up when they are unexpected.



probably an offspring of this one.







 

I bite youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

I just picked up a 4 footer in the yard and brought him to a park down the street.

Was getting just a little too big for the yard.

That is a Black Mamba - you had better be careful!






LOL


I do love snakes - they do know how to hunt!


Red

If it looks like this one I would not pick it up.







 

funny - I always loved the king snakes - in my forties I found a scarlet king snake - actually watch him come into my garage.

I caught him and moved him about a half mile from my house - in a better hunting ground away from the houses.

LOL

Red

That was a Coral Snake.



 

 

With really bad attitudes. I have to get after several of mine every so often, they like to stretch out in front of the doors and get all bowed up and pissy when you disturb them. Have to turn the hose on them and cool their jets & make them move along.

The ones by me bolt as soon as they detect human activity headed their direction. They compete with the cats to own the rodent population at my workplace. I think the cats are winning but, the competition is welcome.

Yeah...I'd avoid that one too.


At my old property I saw them regularly, as well as rattlers. For some reason the place was just infested. My son was 3 yrs at the time and we had to watch him like a hawk. When the wife got pregnant with twins we moved. I'd have been afraid to ever let them out of the house.


 

I know....the old red touches yellow - kill the fellow....if red touches black friend of Jack.....

All good - I do love to see any reptile in it natural environment - if they play nice then I do as well.....

Red

I have about a 3' Blackie that's taken up residence underneath the heat exchanger on the side of my house. I just know he is going to give my wife a heart attack one of these days.

I had one surprise the shit outta me when I was spraying some liquid lawn mower around the house. They're about the only snake I won't kill for GP.

Found his skin today after a molt- about 3.5 feet long now.

We try to live in the open air for about 6 months out of the year, which leads to some fun encounters with these guys.  They like to sun on our back steps in the afternoons, which of course is where we take our 3 dogs out to the bathroom several times a day.  Those black racers can move, can't they?  

The other night my wife had stopped by to talk to me about something in my office, it was starting to get dark and I notice the no-see-ums were starting to come in.  I asked her to go close the back (sliding) door.  I heard her close the door, say "hm," open it, slam it again, "hm," open it, slam it again.  Then a light turns on and she starts screaming bloody murder.  I run in to find a yellow rat snake stuck 1/2 way in and 1/2 way out the door going crazy .  I had to turn the air conditioning on after that

Here's a black racer that stopped by to see my dog on a regular basis.  They would sit nose to nose at the window and just check each other out, which was funny.  





It's the rat snakes that are the meanest.  We used to have a 4' to 5' one that hopped between several of our yards. We used to usher him down the street occasionally.  One neighbor grabbed the lid off his trashcan to use as a shield, and you could hear that thing hitting it all the way down the street.  It sounded like a baseball bat hitting the lid.  We keep the small ones around (particularly after my car was totaled by rats ), but start pushing them to move out when they get about 3' long.  I have found that being diligent about picking up all the sea grape leaves and putting down mulch helps.  The dead sea grape leaves made a perfect bed for them to travel under and hide beneath.  

This is the one I spotted walking my bike home after having a flat.



It was neat to watch him hunting for his lunch.

Red

I accidentally cornered one once that was sunning on my porch. Nothing gets that pucker factor elevated like one of them charging you. They aren't called black racers for nothing.

BETTER NATE THAN LEVER!

 
That's funny! Our cat would love it, she looses her mind over the anoles that are all over the outside. Every so often as a special treat I'll catch one for her. We have one of those clear ornament balls from the art store we call the lizard ball. I'll put it in that, tape the edges and she will roll and chase that ball all over the house for several hours. When she finally tires, I'll put the lizard back out.


I've got a number of 4-5 ft yellow rat snakes around my place. I've caught a few and relocated them to the back of the property. I learned to do it with gloves as they leave an odor on your hands. Somewhere I have a video I took of one eating duck eggs, and a pic of one that climbed the electric fence and got thoroughly cooked.


Black racers are the only ones that have actually chased me. I think I must have turned up their burrow. Wish a Kingsnake would show up, the moles are tearing tilling up my yard this year.