snakes | Life on a Colorado Farm

Not only are the birds flocking together and moving through, (these are not the Swallows but another bird)

And the sky loudly proclaiming CHANGE

Even the snakes are restless….moving here and there, eating as much as possible, not shedding (the growing time is over), they are starting to gather to ‘den up’.

Here is a quote from good ole trusty Google: “Unlike many warm-blooded animals, snakes don’t actually hibernate in the winter. Instead, snakes go into a state known as where snakes become less active and their metabolism slows down tremendously. Brumation is similar to hibernation in that snakes will sleep for long periods of time.”

They seem to be everywhere right now, heading to wherever they want to call home.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

Well, let’s see….first off Boomer and I helped Mom clean the chicken house. Boomer really doesn’t help; he just bounces around in the house while I am looking for mice. If I see mice, I grab them up and snap them. Mom says I’m a very good mouser.

(Although, I don’t see as well anymore, but don’t tell Mom, I don’t want her to not let me come in to the hen house with her and hunt mice. I talked to Boomer about my ‘little problem’ and he said he would watch me and try to do what I do.)

Anyway, there was only one mouse; Mom said the two snakes that had been living in the chicken house have done a good job. She dreads this winter when the mice will run all over the place again.

Mom washed out and cleaned all of the live traps because they now have to take the place of the hibernating snakes.

Then we got on the four-wheeler and headed up to where Dad is re-building fence….remember that huge fire we had last spring? Actually two huge fires? Well, the main fence that runs along the west of the place still hasn’t been fixed. Long story.

The damaged fences on the top of our place Dad has decided we better remove. He says we won’t have cows anymore so he is taking down the fences that have huge fire damaged wire. The range cows won’t have to be fenced out of the fields because they come in the winter and run the whole place anyway.

Lots of work, but necessary, you can’t have a cow or calf walk on a burned and down fence, get tangled in the barbed-wire and go down, get cut up, and hurt.

No, sir!

So we are all helping Dad.

I sit by the four-wheeler lots, unless Mom moves somewhere then I go with her. Boomer runs around, gets the news then comes back and tells me what’s happening out there.