Western Plains Garter Snake

Found on the east side of the house Sunday, late morning, under the jasmine. It hung around long enough for the photo shoot. When I went back a few minutes later, it was gone.

EGGS: Snake? Lizard? Gecko?

I'm still working on cleaning out the shed. On Saturday I lifted up an empty birdseed bag to find this batch of tiny eggshells half on it, half beneath it. So exciting! They're so tiny and delicate. I thought they must be snake eggs, until I googled . . . now I think perhaps they are gecko or lizard eggs instead. Only the layer of the eggs knows for sure....






The photo above shows the membrane within the shell. In the photo below is what I thought was a wee snakeskin, or is it more inner-egg material? I know not.

Recent Acquisitions for the Cabin

Tiny Snake II

Spotted on the path on our walk this evening. It was trying to not be
spotted by us & dogs & cat.

Tiny Snake

Westcave Preserve: Oh, the Excitement! Snakes & Birds

I went to a photography workshop today at Westcave Preserve. Wildlife sightings were a golden-cheeked warbler (the first I've ever seen in person) and a cottonmouth snake (also the first I've ever seen in person). So exciting! The warbler was directly overhead, so I got only these underneath shots. I can only improve.


Some people got very, very close to this cottonmouth snake. I stood back a little farther and used my zoom lens. Why tempt fate, I ask you?

Rattler!

Hugh took these photos with his new iPhone. We saw the rattlesnake on our road on our way home from dinner one night, just a little bit off the main road and just under a quarter of a mile from our house. It was a BIG snake; sadly there's nothing in the photos to really give it scale (scale! ha! snake pun!). It was in front of Paul and Ann's property, though headed to the opposite side of the road from their place.


The grasses at the side of the road are thigh- to hip-height or so. I think the snake must have been at least 3 feet long...Hugh says maybe 4! If not 10! But really, probably between 3 and 4.


Its mouth is open in this picture. Rattlesnakes don't alarm me terribly (though they might if they started hanging around the house and grounds) but I am more bothered by the thought of coral snakes.I've been reading up on poisonous Texas snakes since seeing the rattler and am glad to report that in general, all are very shy and really don't want to run into you any more than you want to run into them. They will do what they can to get away from you and usually bite only as a last resort and in defense rather than aggressively. (I'm totally paraphrasing from Dixon's Texas Snakes: A Field Guide (UT Press), but I believe I am paraphrasing fairly accurately.)