First, there are

SNAKES!!

(this is a snakeskin)

We have two kinds, that Mom and I know of

(This is a bull snake.  Photo is by Linda Pierson in Alberta, Canada)

Bull Snakes and Water Snakes.

Bull Snakes are non-poisonous…they can get BIG…Long…and they are fast.  Mom and Dad see them, once in a while in the alfalfa fields, but Mom said they haven’t seen one for a long time now.  She doesn’t know why.

Then we have

WATER SNAKES!  They live here, there, everywhere.  We have them in the farmyard, on the ditch banks…in the fields.

Mom has two that live in the hen house with the hens.  I see them once in a while when I’m in the hen house.

They don’t bother anything, but the mice.  One snake can eat one mouse a week.

They seem to eat everything whole, so if you are in the hen house and see a snake with a bulge in its tummy then you know said snake was helping me keep the mouse population down.

That said—they do scare me a bit and I have seen Mom jump a little jump when one of the snakes comes slithering out from under the nest boxes.

Mom and Dad try to take care of the water snakes, if they are laying on the bridge taking in the sun and the warm cement…then one of them shoos the snake off the bridge so the vehicle can drive on over.

If there is a snake on one of the farm roads – yep, Dad or Mom takes a shovel and lifts the snake off into the weeds so the tractor or four-wheeler can pass by.

Snakes.  Fuzzy hated snakes, he would shake and snap them to death.  Me…I just go the other way.

Other Things that are a creepy factor to them are:

Lizards—we have little greenish-gray lizards with strips along

It’s back and sides…I think they are called—six-lined race runner.  I call them “FUN TO CATCH!”  which is exactly what I try to do when I see one!

Frogs and Toads:

We don’t have lots of frogs

Once in a while, one or two will float down in the irrigation water,

but that’s all.

What we do have lots of are toads.

Mom LOVES toads.

She has little toad houses for them.

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She tells me to leave the toads alone

She tells me to leave the toads alone they eat lots of bugs.

Mom doesn’t have to worry about that…they don’t even look good enough to chase.

TLC Cai-Cai