Wild Life
So, spring has sprung in Nashville, and all the creatures are coming out and going in to find their favorite spot to spawn.
Yesterday, I saw a badger about to cross the road. Luckily, it turned back to the brush before it was splatttered all over the road.
Later that afternoon, my sister called to tell me she was coming over to drop off the Ikea outdoor furniture set she picked up for me in Atlanta. I moved my car to the street, clearing my driveway so she could back up to the garage...when I can assemble everything later.
I then opened up my garage door from the inside (manual door), and noticed a little tail in the rim of the door. I thought it was a lizard like the ones I saw last summer. I grabbed a trowel and banged it on the side of the rim to knock out the critter. That's when I noticed that the tail was really long, and not really a tail, but a body. When the snake fell out of the rim...okay it was really the weatherstripping...it started coming towards me. I flicked it away from the garage a bit and had a closer look. Then I realized there was another snake in the door.
Not sure what to do about the snakes, or what kind they are. They were brown with a darker brown cross-hatch pattern. Not exactly diamond-shaped. No rattles. Slight side-winding movements. Makes me nervous. Then again, between them and the feral cat that likes to hang out in my carport, shouldn't have any rodent problems!
Unless the rodents are hanging out in the 8 holes in my front yard.
No mushrooms to speak of, and didn't see anything crazy come out of the dug-up sewer line. By the way, the one they replaced was made of concrete! Talk about old school. Now I have shiny, new pvc in my yard. Let the good times roll.
I was so excited about it that I wanted to show my mother, who always expressed pride at my tick-covered, mosquito-bitten and dirty exploits. I ran down the hill, into the house, and confronted my mother, who was taking an nap on the couch.
"Mama!, look at what i found! It's a snake!"
*Shove snake in her face so she could take a closer look*
the reaction:
.
.
.
.
.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!
GET THAT THING OUT OF MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW!!!"
Scared the shit out of me. But mostly I was surprised, as my mother had carefully concealed her fear of living and jumping things for YEARS.
This morning I saw a black buzzard in the yard of a big house. Don't know what it was eating, but that bird was huge!