Another Interesting Visitor

I have been toiling over a post for Space Coast Eco about the River Lakes Conservation Area, Moccasin Island Tract. I experienced blogger's block, and it took much longer than it should have. However, I was able to use the photo I took there of a lovely big red rat snake sunning himself in the road, and that brought to mind my recent snake adventure.


A couple of weeks ago, pre-snapping turtle, I raised my garage door and discovered a small snake hanging from that rubber weather strip at the bottom. Not knowing what kind he was (I really need to pay more attention to Jim and Matt), I put a big Rubbermaid tote under him and poked him with a yardstick. He dropped into the tote nicely - I gave him some leaf litter, popped a lid on the tote, and called Jim. He was a beautiful young rat snake, and as you can see, he provided Jim with a good photo opportunity. The snake was a mellow little guy, and he did not mind having that pretty tummy rubbed. Rat snakes are sometimes called corn snakes because of the pattern on their belly that looks like corn on the cob.


Jim wanted me to remind you that there are no climbing venomous snakes in Florida. He turned the baby loose somewhere safe after the photo session, of course.

Pure Florida recently blogged about his grey rat snake find - we don't get those over on the east coast of Florida, but they are found in the Panhandle.

Another friend called with the news that he'd found a complete black snake skin, still moist - a great find, indeed. He said the head was a little twisted, so he put it in some warm water and was able to straighten it out. I would not have thought of that - Florida Cracker, what say you to this idea?

Apropos of nothing except we all need a good giggle every once in a while, read Cactus Jack's Quote for the Week post, All I Know I Learned From My Horse. These rules are written from a horse's point of view, but most of them are pretty applicable to humans, although I'm not sure #12 works in polite company.

I read light mysteries, preferably ones with good writing or good recipes or both. I finished one yesterday that pretty well summed up my week. In the 1800s, poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been! Present-day mystery writer Bill Crider took issue with this in his book Of All Sad Words and maintains the saddest words are: It seemed like a good idea at the time. Works in my mind, and I may embroider it on a pillow.

Have a good week!