Romantic Interlude

[hendi_alex]

I used to think that it was a myth that snakes could climb a large tree like an oak tree that has no limbs low to the ground. This tree is beside our house and snakes climb it very often.



Birds usually alert me when a snake is moving in the trees during the day. Shame on me for interrupting these two in their moment of intimacy, but the Blue Jay way already raising quite a fuss.

[thanrose]

Beautiful! I haven't seen any of my snakes so far this year, but I never thought to look up!

[applestar]

Wow, what kind of snake are those and how big are they?

I think if I saw snakes overhead, I would get out of there in a hurry!

[hendi_alex]

"I think if I saw snakes overhead, I would get out of there in a hurry!"

Why, snakes don't eat people!

These black rat snakes are in the 4-5 foot range. I climbed my step ladder to within 2-3 feet of the snakes in order to get decent photos. When my daughters were ages 2 and 5, they sat in the front yard and allowed a longer than six foot black rat snake to crawl over their bare legs while they visited with the critter. Black rat snakes are very docile and not likely to bite even when picked up with bare hands. Black racers are a different matter, as they will literally chase a person and try to bite them.

[hendi_alex]

These two were 'in the moment'. They paid me very little attention and stayed in place for 5-10 minutes. If I had been a hawk, they would likely have acted differently. Also, had they been on the ground, they would probably have interpreted my approach as more of a threat. I guess that people on step ladders are just not included as part of their fight or flight program, for when the snakes are in a tree.

[tomf]

Big snakes! Cool!