Part of Desert Boy's recent fascination with snakes stems from seeing two gopher snakes near our house recently. Although seeing a snake usually makes me jump initially, once I realize that it's just a gopher snake I relax and am grateful it's there. Grateful? Yep, because gopher snakes eat mice, and when you have them around, it generally means you don't have a mouse problem!
We walked past this gopher snake several times and it didn't move at all.
A little further down the way we saw a second one in the grass. It was also quite calm and didn't seem to mind our presence. Now Desert Boy wants to see snakes frequently. We have several different snake species in the area, but only one poisonous one, the Great Basin rattlesnake. I am concerned about Desert Boy unwittingly getting too close to one, so I keep a close eye on him as we trek out in the bushes. Overall, though, I hope he will appreciate snakes. They don't get much credit for doing some important ecosystem work!
What a beauty! That first shot really captures the pattern and coloring. I agree that the "friendly" snakes of the world deserve much more credit.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful snake...looks like links of chain.
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It's your valley's mascot!
ReplyDeleteI know snakes do a great job in the ecosystem and all but I cannot stand them!!
ReplyDeleteYou know from my blog that I've experienced this myself. Don't like them much, but prefer them to a bazillion mice running around.
ReplyDeletei own 2 gopher snakes and they are calm, loving and great pets
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing the sense of smell that snakes have. But I really afraid of them. They can easily scare me out to death. But they are really good hunters.
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