Eeeeekkk!

Cyrus and I had an interesting guest yesterday evening.  He greeted us as we were walking around the yard looking for a tree limb suitable for use as a perch in Cy’s cage.  How on earth I managed to loose the cage’s original perch is beyond me.   At any rate, I grabbed the measuring tape and we started on a leisurely pace around the yard. We were going to search along the edge of the back yard where there are a lot of felled trees.
I’ve placed Cy’s cage on the front porch so he can sit out with us.  This is the cage we need a perch for.  Cyrus is on one of his stands in the den or in my room while indoors so his cage isn't used inside anymore.

As we walked we found the foxglove is as tall as ever.
Daisies springing up at will And the cactus is ready to bust forth with an amazing number of flowers.  I’ve never seen it with as many buds before.

Jim had to remove the two peach trees from the side yard as they were terribly diseased.                                                                     The blueberry bushes seem to be doing ok, although our cooler weather has the berries looking a bit ‘puny’.


I thought the long limb jutting from this fallen tree ( caught in the larger oak ) would make a fine perch for Cyrus and so was getting ready to check it out. That is until I stepped in to get a closer look…



This big fellow was resting and digesting his dinner…he had a full belly and wasn’t about to be disturbed by me.  I am hoping he was full of moles, which we have an over abundance of, and not baby birds.  The alarmed and angry mocking birds, blue jays and robin's were all screaming and diving at him to no avail.  Another black snake was on a piece of wood at the wood pile, just at my feet.  My jumping and screeling sent him on his way. He was not as lethargic as his buddy so slivered off into the undergrowth.
I want to keep the black snakes as they are good to keep the rodant population down and keep other types of snakes away too.  I prefer black  snakes to copperheads.