Snake!

Saw a snake in the back yard today; I’m a little surprised I haven’t seen one here before. At first I thought it was a branch lying in the grass, but then the shape changed and I grew suspicious. I watched as it approached the house — attended by a cardinal and a robin who hopped along nearby, seemingly not knowing quite what to make of it.

Apparently it likes our yard

The snake was all black with a white chin, about three feet long. Eventually it came into a pile of firewood near our screened porch, and poked its head up between a couple of logs. We regarded each other from a few feet apart — I could see it darting its tongue in and out, tasting the air, trying to figure out what the heck I am.  In a few minutes, Violet became aware of it and started barking like crazy. The snake didn’t like this and ducked its head down into the wood. Then it slowly moved off.

With the help of a website on Ohio snakes, I ID’d it: A black racer, common here in southern Ohio, nonvenemous (although it can be aggressive), eats frogs, lizards, birds, small mammals and other snakes. We’ve had heavy rains in recent weeks, followed by warm, summery weather, so I wasn’t too surprised to see it. We have a chorus of frogs in the evening from the areas of the yard that are still soggy, and I’ve seen several box turtles crossing nearby roads. It’s a great time of year if you’re a reptile or an amphibian.