Thursday, August 30, 2007
KING OF THE ROAD
When we first moved here,there were two king snakes living outside the wall in the ground cover.
Every time I went out there, whether to weed or check the sprinklers, one of them would somehow sneak up on me and spook the bejeezus out of me.
I never got used to it and, though I knew they were there and this would happen, I was never prepared. Really.
Then, we cleared the ground cover out little by little and the king snakes moved on to other territory. Maybe.
Today, for the first time in a long while, there was a young >king snake coming in the opening in the wall at the end of the bougainvillea planter. I was hoping he would turn right into the shrubbery but he did not. He turned left onto the terrace.
He was slow.
I was on the phone and I took my time.
About the time he got to another drainage hole in the wall, I went out and just walked up to him talking away.
He stopped.
Looked.
And I tapped my foot.
Not the same way that Senator Craig did.
And he went into the drainage hole and out.
It might be the king snakes who are creating caverns behind my dry wall out there.
But, I would rather think that it is the king snakes who are going to clean out whatever is in there. Or their babies. I hope that he isn't living on my lizards.
We will see.
A week or more ago it was a baby rattler out back. King snakes are immune to rattlers venom and will kill them.
I think we will be careful about how we leave the screen sliders open.
Franklin may have to ask to go out for awhile. I don't want snakes in the house and it would really be painful if he killed the king.
Oh. A question from the back of the room!
Yes
"Why are they called king snakes"?
They are called king snakes because they are the only snake that can and will kill other snakes.
