snakes & bones & more cool stuff

snakes.

they're not everybody's favorite.

but you have to admit...even though you may not want to hold or touch one...

they sure are beautiful to look at.

this little guy, a juvenile Rat Snake has hunkered down in our shed for the past couple of weeks...

trying to stay warm enough to make it through those nights when the temp drops to freezing.

in the woods out back...camouflaged in the bare wintery-thorny-vines...

is another young Rat Snake (but older than the one in the shed).

take a look at this snake. a Black Racer.  i spotted it out back...in a clearing in the woods.

wanna guess how i got so close...to get this picture without the snake racing away?

mm-hmm.  dead. no blood.  no bite marks.

the detective in me thinks it froze to death.

i flipped it over...here's the underside.

you probably know by now what i do when i find dead critters.

i take them home.  bury them.  wait for them to decompose. dig them up.

collect the bones...clean the bones...and then decorate them, or use them in my art.

besides this dead one, i've found two snake skeletons along the side of the road.

so

what to do with all these snake bones?

a couple of months ago i started to make SNAKE VERTEBRAE earrings.

ok. enough about snakes.

i was surprised to see mushrooms & lichen 

still pushing their way up through the ground or clinging to trees...

 in this colder weather we've been having.

when i think 'fungi', i tend to think warm, humid. 

two more pictures...

a dragonfly trying to soak up a little warmth...

and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. 

not an easy task to get a picture. 

i can hear 'em, but by the time i usually spot them...they fly to another tree.

depending on where we live on planet earth,

chances are we're dealing with the winter cold or the summer heat.

but when i got an email from a friend the other day,

who lives in Siberia...and she told me the temperature there right now is 40 below 0...

i felt a little woozy!

FORTY BELOW ZERO!!

that takes all the FUN out of winter...don't you think?

anyway...whatever YOU'RE dealing with right now...

be safe.

take it easy.

laura

snakes and birds

yesterday was a pretty wild day! it ended with my son Travis finding a young red rat snake on the front porch. it was very docile and let him hold it for a few minutes.

but let me go back to the beginning. the day began with me going outside...in the back yard, where i saw a yellow rat snake climbing up an old, half-dead oak tree. i've seen lots of snakes...but have never watched one climb straight up a tree before. 

this tree has lots of woodpecker holes...and this snake seemed to be on a mission! he climbed up one side of the tree...then crossed to the other side on a small branch...to get to where all the holes are.

he came up behind one of the holes from that back side...and went in...

two flying squirrels came tumbling out and ran up different trees! 

we had also seen a couple of adult woodpeckers during the past week flying in and out of one of those holes up there. it looked like they were feeding their young...flying to the edge of the hole and bobbing their heads in and out...then flying away again.  shortly after the snake went in the hole, 2 (red-bellied) woodpeckers started flying frantically around the top of the tree...one even got brave enough to peer right into the hole!

i waited...and waited...kept checking to see if i could spot the snake leaving...FAT from his mid day meal. but i never saw him sneak away. 

BUT i did get a couple of good shots of a red shouldered hawk...

eventually the woodpeckers stopped flying around their nest. i hope they didn't get eaten along with their babies! maybe they moved on to another tree. 

it seemed as though all the birds and squirrels were talking to each other while that snake was up the tree...sending out a warning...

well...it's nice to not have to leave home to be a part of nature.

today's Memorial Day. no work.  i feel like wandering...looking for bones...or native plants...in the field across the way. sounds like a plan.  = )