Yesterday, I did some cleaning up in my vegetable garden box, and noticed that one of the boards needed nailed back together.
While moving some of the dirt around, I found this really neat snake skin. Benjamin thought it should to be on something soft, so he brought out his big teddy bear.
So, who does the skin belong to? Click on the picture and see if you can tell me!
I'm not much of a snake person, but Benjamin kept him safe while I put the boards back together. Then we put him back in his home. We actually saw another snake too, but she disappeared under the dirt. I did a little research and I think they are either Texas Brown Snakes or Earth Snakes.
My garden has a lavender plant, a red and yellow pepper plant, a tomato plant and two basil plants. So, are these two snakes good for my garden?
I'd be freaking out and wondering if they are good enough for my son to hold. I am a baby when it comes to snakes. We ... like you in Texas ... have some bad ones. I've seen rattlesnakes and coral snakes on my walks.
ReplyDeleteSorry I am no help. You are brave, Kelli. I am a Southern Wimp.
Kelli,
ReplyDelete:) Funny- we had a snake encounter at our house on Easter. I blogged about it with lots of pictures, too.
If I know a snake is not a poisonous one I don't mind them at all. It's all in finding out about the snakes in your own world...which ones are safe and which are not!
I like snakes from a distance & have always heard they are good for gardens, just as long as I can't see them!
ReplyDeleteYUCK!! I am so scared of snakes. If I see them, I run !
ReplyDeleteIm glad to see somebody likes them though!!
Stephanie
Well, isn't Benjamin the brave little man!
ReplyDeleteCool! I bet he is good for your garden - I bet he eats bugs.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I think I would have passed out. But what a cool BOY treat! My son would have loved it!
ReplyDeleteoh, my, goodness,
ReplyDeleteSNAKE!!!
cool, can i keeps it?
I dont really know. I would be running and screaming though. lol. I'm not really a snake fan. Your garden will be great. We tilled ours up yesterday and have bought out lettuce seeds to plant on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteThat is really neat. I loved things like that as a child. Just keep the small rodents like mice and moles away from me.
ReplyDeleteYou're braver than I am!! I could not have stayed out there with a snake nearby. My husband, on the other hand, at one time when he was a child had a snake come in to their home every night through a little hole to curl up to sleep and then leave the next morning. That poor snake would have been outta my house and probably dead its first night!!
ReplyDeleteYIKES!!!! I am not a snake person but I raised four sons and learned to accept them. I would not like to see them in my garden.
ReplyDeleteOh how fun! We have those snakes too. I do believe they are the "rough earth snake." They are good for the garden as they eat slugs, but they also eat earthworms which isn't so good if you covet them in your veggie patch. Overall I would say they are more of a help than a menace and many gardeners like having them.
ReplyDeleteOne day we found a snake skin all wrapped up in a bush outside our door. It was about 4ft long! NOT an earth snake. We think maybe a rat snake. We have plenty of rats around here. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about them. They are harmless and, I think, fun to observe.
Theresa in TX
Benjamin is lucky to have a mom that let's him play with snakes -- I remember my mother finding a garder snake (if that is the correct spelling) and she actually took a garden hoe and hoe'ed it to pieces -- looked quite comical having your mother dance around hoe'ing a snake. We were little kids and not into being friends with the critter! That is Illinois gardening -- brought to you by Karyl
ReplyDeleteMy first comment did not work so I will try again. ha Your little garden has some nice plants! Good ideas!
ReplyDeleteI have never liked snakes, but had quite a few in my garden one summer in MI - it was my best ever garden! I didn't enjoy their presence, but they seemed to keep out the rabbits and squirrels that usually feasted on our product - we didn't even have as many birds pecking the ripe tomatoes, so it was all good! They didn't deter the deer though, who thought our corn was their personal supply! I just walked carefully and watchfully so I wouldn't step on them!
ReplyDeleteI am not much of a snake person either!! I bet the kids loved it though. Your garden is just so lovely!! Hope you are enjoying a beautiful day today! :)
ReplyDeleteIf I had found those snakes in my garden, I'd be moving my garden. I hate snakes and stay as far away from them as possible. You are very brave to be taking this in your stride and letting your children handle them!
ReplyDeleteMy grandchildren love playing with snakes but they make my skin feel creepy.
Snakes don't bother me very much, perhaps if we had some bad ones here I would feel differently.
ReplyDeleteI am scared to death of grasshoppers and bees however. My hubby said once that living on the prairies I had better get used to the grasshoppers.
That is the one reason it was good God never gave me a son. I cannot do snakes!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine they are good for a garden - IMO they aren't good for anything at all. I KNOW they aren't good for my heart.
ACK!!!!!!
ReplyDelete(I know...you warned us.)
Even if a snake is not poisonous, and pretend to be venomous... I am both intrigued and afraid of snakes...
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Looks just like a big worm! I've always heard that snakes are good, help keep rodents and pests out of the garden.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen any at our house, which is probably why we have so many mice living in our shed! But I enjoy the mice, we watch them from the window and they know we can see them.
I don't like snakes. However, if you haven't yet, you may like to visit my blog and read about the rattlesnake we came across while hiking. I am SO GLAD he wasn't in my flower beds! There would probably not be a picture, cuz I'd be locked in the house!!
ReplyDeleteI hate snakes!!!! I really do. When we lived in Arizona, I'd be walking in the desert and I saw all kinds of rattlesnakes. I gave 'em wide berth. [is that the word?]
ReplyDeleteAnd me? If I see 'em in the garden, I don't put 'em back in their home...I won't say what I do. LOLOL
When Bud and I were out raking the front yard just this week, we had a baby snake in the sod!!! The black birds got him.
Eewwww. And that's all I have to say about it.
ReplyDeleteNancy
I don't mind a snake if it isn't poisonous. I remember holding a boa constrictor a few years ago. It felt differently than I imagined. It was actually very smooth and soft. :)
ReplyDeleteOMG I have chills all over. He could have my garden!
ReplyDeleteOh my, snakes! I guess we don't have them here in Germany!
ReplyDeleteI wish I would be able to do some garden cleaning, too! But it's far too wet outside - and we even got snow for Easter!
XoX, Anita
I am a snake guy, and I do not know what kind of snake it is; and therein lies the reason that I would not have picked it up. I am pretty familiar with the look of most of the venomus snakes native to North America, and I am virtually certain it is not one of them, but I still would have been cautious before allowing my son or myself to handle it. Why - well because there re a lot of people who keep exotic snakes in the USA, and some of those exotics are venomus. So until I have identified a snake as nonvenomus, I do not pick it up by hand.
ReplyDeleteAs for it being a Brown Snake, I guess that is a possibility although from that shot it looks somewhat robust for any Brown Snake I have ever seen. Then again it looks to be a wide angle shot and that can distort the pic a bit.
God love you honey! If it had been me, that snake would have been chopped up in so many pieces you wouldn't be able to tell what it used to be! And as for the other...there would have been the biggest snake hunt Texas has ever seen! Nope, me and snakes are not on speaking terms...in fact they are not welcome in my world! I would have to say they aren't good for the garden because there wouldn't be any plants left after I got through hacking away at the snakes!
ReplyDeleteGrace & Peace
Kelli, I refered your post to Glenn Bartley as he raises snakes as a hobby and is quite the expert. I would seriously heed his advice. :-)
ReplyDeletekelli, I hesitated to view your blog this morning, but couldn't resist. I am terrified of snakes. We don't even have poisionous ones here. I would pack up and move if I saw one on my property.:) Not really, but my boys are instructed to kill and not tell me about it. I would rather have the bugs. :) I am really trying to get used to them. My friend got one for her daughter for Christmas and I have started to visit her again.:) Your garden looks great. I can't wait to plant mine!! Kerri
ReplyDeleteI am afraid my garden would have become a weed patch if I ever saw a snake in it! Sorry....ewwwwwww!
ReplyDeleteOh my, I'm a bit afraid of snakes, so I'm very glad we haven't got them here in the neighbourhood !!!!
ReplyDelete