Reptilian Adventure Last Night

[blume357]

My wife and I sit on our screened porch most nights when we can and discuss things for a few hours. Outside the screen she has several hanging plants suspended from the over hang and two bird houses also suspended. This year two small birds set up house in one and have not had young that are constantly squawking for food. Last night we were just about ready to go in and my wife mentioned that looks like a snake on one of the cords holding one of her hanging plants. We turned on the outside lights and sure enough about a 4ft king snake going up the rope. It must have come out of the Azalea plant near the hanging plant... We assumed the snake was trying to get to the young birds in the bird house hanging about 4ft away.... The snake got up in the roof joist of the overhand and kept trying to figure out how to get over to the bird house. My wife was not happy about this but also did not want to harm the snake. I've been wondering if we still had a 'rat' snake around our house.. had not seen any signs in the last year or so.

So we spent the next hour watching it try to get to the bird house while I tried to figure out how to get it down with out hurting it. Finally I had gotten a painters extension pole and put it up near the snake hoping it would climb down it and it did this long stretch to get to the bird house and I wiggled it free and it fell on the ground and slithered off in the bushes... Hopefully we discouraged it from the baby birds... we'll see. Part of me was thinking this is just part of nature... but then my wife was pretty upset about it eating those babies... One of the interesting parts is that while all this was going on there was not one peep out of the bird house.... no noise at all. seems they new the snake was out there. I guess I need to go out in a while and see if the little ones are still around or if they have become a snake.

 

[gramps]

Yep, that is nature! OTOH your response was nature also.
gramps

 

[eveled]

That’s pretty cool! Much better than watching tv.

 

[Cholo]

You're fortunate your wife reacted the way she did. Some women would have burned the house down in order to get rid of it

 

[dad45]

That is awesome, I love being able to see such things! Unfortunately in this world of go, go, go we don’t often get the chance!

 

[contender]

Yep,, part of nature & I'm glad y'all didn't just kill the snake.

I have not been able to use my tractor for several weeks now. A wren built a nest in it. And yesterday,, being curious,, I checked on it,, and saw that we still have some fuzzy babies still there. I'm kinda surprised,, as I've kept several black snakes around here too. I saw one of these just a week or so ago. Nature at work!

 

[blume357]

When my wife got up this morning I found out she had stayed up till about 1:30 and the snake had tried to come back twice and she ran it off. I checked and the babies are still there... don't know how long they can last.... we can't guard them 24 hours a day.

 

[GunnyGene]

LV.

The wish, that of the living whole
No life may fail beyond the grave,
Derives it not from what we have
The likest God within the soul?

Are God and Nature then at strife,
That Nature lends such evil dreams?
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life;

That I, considering everywhere
Her secret meaning in her deeds,
And finding that of fifty seeds
She often brings but one to bear,

I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the great world’s altar-stairs
That slope thro’ darkness up to God,

I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,
And gather dust and chaff, and call
To what I feel is Lord of all,
And faintly trust the larger hope.

LVI.

‘So careful of the type?’ but no.
From scarped cliff and quarried stone
She cries, ‘A thousand types are gone:
I care for nothing, all shall go.

‘Thou makest thine appeal to me:
I bring to life, I bring to death:
The spirit does but mean the breath:
I know no more.’ And he, shall he,

Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair,
Such splendid purpose in his eyes,
Who roll’d the psalm to wintry skies,
Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law–
Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek’d against his creed– (Tennyson)

 

[blume357]

Well, I have to make an update... not so good for the baby birds.... but I suppose the snake is happy and no longer hungry....

Checked Monday morning and they were all gone from the house.

 

[Achigan]

“Snakes gotta eat, same as hawks” (my apologies to Josey Wales...)