Yesterday I had one sunflower in bud - today it's gone!
Deer passing through last night I guess.
Deer passing through last night I guess.
A few days ago I shared the brown lizard on the front porch.
Today there's a green one - or perhaps he just changed clothes!
The yellow four o'clocks can't tell time - they opened at 7 AM today!
They do look pretty with the dill flowers sharing their plant pot.
Sage is all the rage in my cooking with such a pot full outside the door.
Lantana came back from last year - I love surprises. . . . . . . except
ones such as this. . . . . . .
Yikes, this 4-5 foot Black Rat snake scared the heck out of me this morning!
I heard the wrens screeching in the fig tree when picking up the
morning paper. A couple of days ago I had a feeling there were hatchlings
in the little wren nest box as a wren flew out when I tapped on it.
Guess I was right.
I went I to get Bob and when we returned half of those 4-5 feet had
disappeared into the box. . . . . and the two wren parents were having a fit!
We whacked at the box with a broom handle and the snake came back out
and dropped to the ground, slithering away very quickly so we couldn't see
if it had a takeout breakfast with it!
This is a non-venomous snake thankfully, but can still bite, It is good to
have in the garden to keep the rodent population in check. . . . . . . but
they're just so darned big and I admit to being deathly afraid of any
and all snakes!
As mentioned in my previous posts, the wildlife here is prolific and
often times somewhat frightening. The bunnies can continue to nibble, but
snakes please stay far away, preferably in neighbors' gardens.
I admit I have not checked the nest box because I don't want to know
what happened - this day has not been the best of times!
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| Sweet Carolina wren - one of my favorite garden birds. |
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We had that happen with bluebird babies when we live at our last home. So sad and scary!
ReplyDeleteOhm that's a horrid thing to happen. There is always something trying to kill baby birds, but here its not so much snakes as Magpies.
ReplyDeleteOh Mary, I would feel just the same about looking in the bird box.
ReplyDeleteDearest Mary,
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that rat snake did not consume any of the sweet Carolina wren's fledglings!
Life can be so cruel in nature... When we came back from a biking trip last week, near our mail box there was a dead (run over) copperhead snake. Don't like any venomous snakes and this even made my decision for getting rid of some Byzantine flowers that have spread way too wild. Their foliage could be hiding numerous snakes... Love the flowers, very special red but no thanks!
Pieter had started to prune down a Banksia rose that grows on the fence between our neighbors but hardly blooms due to the way too tall trees. So I gave it the death penalty. Had to tell him to stop doing it himself as he bleeds so easily from the tiniest scratch due to his blood thinning meds. Don't need that so will ask our garden crew to do it instead.
Always something to manage.
Yesterday we biked some 24 km and raced the final part, trying to be home before a sudden thunder storm with rain came up. We saw about twenty 'Confederate Condors' as I call those ugly Turkey Vultures, so I got off my bike and sure enough they had been feasting on a deer... Sad sight but it is good that they are nature's garbage crew! They were cussing at me and flew up into a tree. Sure when waiting they would return to feast some more but with those dark clouds, I had no patience for that!
Today no way we could have biked.
Hugs,
Mariette
Oh dear, what a nasty looking snake Mary. Well done to catch a picture of it, but I can see why it is come. They just seem to know when there are baby birds about. I do hope at least some of the little ones are still there. Our grandson had some chickens running around last year which disappeared one by one - then a large snake was found to be hiding nearby. Now his henhouse and garden is protected by high duty fencing, hopefully to deter Mr Snake. I love your lime and lemon post, so refreshing in the Summertime. xxx
ReplyDeleteOh Mary! Eeekkk! I am terrorized seeing any snake. Maybe there is some type of barrier for bird houses so snakes cannot enter. I love to listen to the sweet little Carolina Wrens, we have them in western PA also. We don't have those cute little lizards, at least I have never seen one. As far as sunflowers go, not in my garden due to the deer feasting on them one too many summers. I had planted quite a pretty mix of sunflowers, watered them, watched them grow and then there they stood one summer morning, beheaded, chomped on like their own salad bar. I hope the deer spare some for you to enjoy and share with the birds.
ReplyDeleteYikes! That naughty snake! I hope there are some babies still alive in there.
ReplyDeleteSometime I don't like walking across my yard for fear of rats in the neighborhood, but a snake would really terrify me. Glad Bob was able to help.
All part of nature, I suppose, though somehow we always find ourselves on the side of the flowers and wrens, rather than the deer and snakes.
ReplyDeleteOh my god - the snake!!!!!! I just hate snakes!! So you also have unvited visitors in the garden :)
ReplyDeleteNo the badger is still here in the garden, but where?? I see him early mornings...
Well, welcome to my zoo :)
Titti
This is the type of scare that we gardeners can do without. One of the many things I detest about snakes is how sneaky they are. More than once I have been happily engaged in my gardening when I suddenly spot one just a few feet away. The first time it happened I had never seen a snake 4-5 feet long up close. I was so terrified I couldn't move. I nearly threw the towel in on gardening. In time I gathered up my courage, but it is always a worry to me. I often hear that the black ones are the good guys. It helps somewhat, but I am still petrified of them. Through the years Brett and I have chased them away from birdhouses too. I hate to see them eat the eggs or kill the babies. I do hope your little wren family was spared.
ReplyDeleteI abhor snakes!! I hate when they go into nesting boxes and steal babies! I know it is part of nature but I don't have to like it. Shame on the deer for eating your sunflower. I really have to get out in my garden and do some weeding! It is out of control since I went away for almost a week! Take care Mary!
ReplyDeleteOh, Mary. That is one mean looking snake. It probably isn't but in my book, there's not a good snake amongst the whole bunch.
ReplyDeleteOh Mary! How dreadful. I'm terrified of snakes and to see one in a tree like that - shivers are running up and down my spine. I hope there are little wrens who survived and I understand your not wanting to check. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteOh my, that snake would scare me to death! The only snakes I have seen around here are harmless garter snakes and thank goodness, I haven't even seen one of those in years. Even those scare me! I hate to think that the snake got some baby birds or even the eggs, even though I know it's the circle of life.
ReplyDeleteNo way would I have gone anywhere near that snake, my two worst things to come across are snakes and spiders.... we have a huge spider lives behind the dresser in the hall, the dresser really needs moving to clean all the cobwebs and hopefully the spider out, having to take everything off it and the shelves which although they are fixed to the wall also rest on the top of the base fills me with dread.
ReplyDelete