Wildlife in our gardens

[Barkslip]

Can’t have enough of them. I have a few praying mantis ‘cocoons’ on a couple two or three trees.

A Rose-breasted Grosbeak afternoon.

Puffing up to a Blue Jay. These two were facing off for a long time.

The Grosbeak was hopping around trying to be boss. That Blue Jay didn’t give a hoot about it.

Kind of interesting to me that my conifers began breaking bud yesterday and at the same time the Rose-breasted Grosbeak’s arrived as did the Red-headed Woodpeckers. “Unison.”

Dax

[EastBexarWilcox]

Does anyone know what this little guy is?

[Winegums]

I forgot to post this picture here,

This is the female Black Capped Chickadee again. I found out recently that she does have a mate! He’s quite sneaky when he feeds her and is gone from sun rise to sun set only stopping by every few hours. She’s uniquely speckled with charcoal dots on her chest unlike the other black caps around my area with smooth amber-cream colouring on them.

[J.D]

Found these two “getting it on” outside my house this morning. Believe they are milk snakes. Both appeared to be between 24" to 30" in length.

[BambooMan]

They look like corn snakes, but I could be wrong. There are tons of color and pattern mutations found within that species.

[J.D]

I could be wrong as well, most people around here call them milk snakes. They do look similar to one and other. I have a few neighbors that kill them insisting that they are copperheads.

[BambooMan]

This rat snake almost gave me a stroke. I didn’t notice him until I had to jump over him on the last step

[mrsg47]

I really hate snakes.

[subdood_ky_z6b]

We see snakes here on the farm quite a bit in the spring/summer. A couple years ago we had a rat snake get up in the rafters to get after some birds nesting in the eaves. No more chirping after the snake visit!

The other snakes I’ve seen are black racers and king snakes. My wife wants to kill 'em all, but I tell her to leave them be, they keep down the rodents. No poisonous sightings yet, but my bro-in-law killed a 36" timber rattler last year.

[moose71]

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.

[moose71]

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]

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]

our fear of snakes goes back to our primal ancestors

… 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]

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.

[Richard]

Here’s a stock photo of one in San Bernardino County.

[Johnnysapples]

That’s creepy, It looks like a human wearing a tux and a cape! Like Dracula!

[moose71]

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]

I found a Plum curculio crawling on my bedroom wall last night. The invasion has begun. They’re fighting back.

[BambooMan]

Not really wildlife, until you catch them.

Not the best photos…I thought someone may enjoy them though.

[lordkiwi]