i agree. most snakes are harmless and eat rodents and insects. leave them to do their jobs in peace. I’ve picked up most of these harmless snakes and I’ve never been bit. guess they know im not a threat. 
Wildlife in our gardens
moose71
#450
moose71
#451
you shouldn’t. they are actually very peaceful creatures. once you handle one, you will see what i mean. they are a marvel of evolution. our fear of snakes goes back to our primal ancestors who were prey for the bigger constrictor species. smaller, non poisonous snakes are quite harmless.
Winegums
#452
I love snakes, I don’t see them around where I live though. I have to go out of the city 40 mins to find any at all. Maybe it’s best I don’t see them around as I enjoy the small birds around here. XD
Richard
#453
… and also to my childhood. I grew up with a mixture of peaceful (e.g. king, gopher, blue) and several venomous snakes roaming around. It was instilled in us to stay away from snakes because some of the venomous ones (e.g. Mohave Green) were hard for a child to identify. It seemed every year someone would accidentally step on one (golf course was common) and die. Many more with rattlesnake bites went to the hospital for a harrowing recovery. Nowadays of course paramedics have antidotes on board but jeez, it’s a knee-jerk reaction for me.
moose71
#454
i hear you. i was stationed at White sands missile range, N.M. in the Army .those mojave greens were everywhere! in the north here we trust snakes. not so much down there. i didn’t kill them . just gave them a wide berth.
moose71
#457
i see beauty here. the way they move and their patterns. they are well evolved for thier enviroment. I’ve come face to face w/ them hiking in the scrub dessert. each time they rattled and i backed off slowly. everytime i was in strike distance but they didnt strike. they don’t want to bite you anymore than you want them to bite. snakes control rodents. its best to let them do their thing and respect them.
ILParadiseFarm
#458
I found a Plum curculio crawling on my bedroom wall last night. The invasion has begun. They’re fighting back.
BambooMan
#459
Not really wildlife, until you catch them.
Not the best photos…I thought someone may enjoy them though.
k8tpayaso
#462
Buzzie: [to Flaps] Okay, so what we gonna do?
Flaps: I don’t know, what you wanna do?
Buzzie: Look, Flaps, first I say, “What we gonna do?” Then you say, “I don’t know, what you wanna do?” Then I say, “What we gonna do?” You say, “What you wanna do?” “What we gonna do?” “What you want…” Let’s do SOMETHING!
Flaps: Okay. What you wanna do?
Buzzie: Oh, blimey! There you go again. The same notes again!
thecityman
#463
I love spring. I took all these photos this morning, and these aren’t even all the nests in my orchard!
The thing is, every part of my brain tells me it is stupid to allow birds to multiply in my orchard- the opposite of what I should want. And I’m a hunter with no compulsion about killing animals in the right circumstances-I’ve posted photos of rabbits I’ve taken and cooked up. But my heart and my brain can’t get together on this. The idea of killing or even just tearing down the nest of a mama bird and her babies/eggs is something I can’t quite get my head around! Oh well…I’ll enjoy them while they are nesting and then spend the rest of the summer trying to get rid of them! How much sense does that make? 
First is a Robin, as you can see from the sky blue unhatched egg. I know for a fact that these guys were born last night or early this morning.
The next one below is a Brown Thrasher
Next up is a little sparrow of some kind. This nest is actually IN my blueberry bush!!! Now that is REALLY dumb on my part!
Finally, a khaki duck nest. This one is fun for me because I just got 4 khaki ducks 2 weeks ago. They had been living in a tiny dog pen in an urban part of downtown Nashville. It was thrilling to turn them loose on my little hobby farm and its been fun watching them acclimate to the wide open county! Within a few days 3 of the 4 of them (all 4 are girls) built amazing nests and began filling them. Since I only have girls, I went online and found some fertile eggs and I’ve switched them so the moms can actually have some babies.
BTW…one thing I found really interesting- and unfortunately you cannot see it at all in the photo- is that on the Brown Thrasher nest the entire OUTER structure of the nest- the “frame” part that was later filled in with smaller, softer things- was made of grape vine trimmings and especially grape vine bark. That is especially unusual because my grapevines are at the complete opposite end of my property- probably 400 yards away! That is a LONG LONG way to carry fairly large sticks and a LOT of bark. There were lots of similar sized sticks and other materials much closer. I wonder why my grape vine cuttings were preferred? Nature is neat.
moose71
#465
goats are cool! if i had the room, a farmer nearby sells miniature goats. my nieghbor has 3. we go see them all the time.
k8tpayaso
#466
Goats will eat ALL YOUR PLANTS!!! I love them too but unless I could put up an inescapable fence I won’t have them anywhere near!
BambooMan
#468
Yep, his half-brother has blue eyes too. I like his build better though. He has thicker horns, a thicker frame, and shorter legs. He’s gonna be me future sire for my own line of goats.