Garden scare!

 

Yesterday I had one sunflower in bud - today it's gone!  
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!

Sweet Carolina wren - one of my favorite garden birds.