Exercise is the main reason for walking up and down my road now. It is so dry few flowers are blooming and everything is covered with dust. Then I came across a rough green snake.
Both of us were surprised. The snake froze hoping I would keep on walking. I stopped to admire this lovely snake.
What is a Rough Green Snake?
The easiest way of knowing this snake is its spring green color. These aren’t big snakes, only growing to around two feet which this one was. They are very slender. This one was only as fat as a fat pencil.
These snakes eat things like grasshoppers. They are not poisonous. It’s rare to see one any place other than when one basks out on the road and that is rare.
High Reaches Snakes
Although rough green snakes are one of my favorite colors, they are not necessarily my favorite snake. They live out along the creek or up in the hills.
Midland Brown and Ring Neck snakes live in my garden. They are much smaller and eat the slugs, snails and other unwanted garden pests. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to eat stink bugs.
Speckled King snakes do visit now and then. It is always a treat to see these enemies of rats and mice. They tend to stay near the barn or in the pastures.
Yes, copperheads live here too. A pair was living under my barn floor this summer. I would see them from time to time as they went hunting for mice.
Although copperheads are poisonous, they are also very shy. Lots of other creatures eat them. Their bite is fatal for a chicken, but they are too big to attract much attention from these voracious birds. Goats swell up, hurt for a day or two and then are fine.
Black rat snakes are a mixed blessing. These rid the barn of a burrowing rat invasion and keep it free of these varmints. But these snakes love hen eggs and summer is an egg race for whether I or the snakes get to the eggs first.
Interesting Creatures
My fear of snakes has gradually waned as I have observed these allies in the fight against mice and garden pests. We now have a truce. They are welcome to live here. We will say hello from time to time and go our separate ways.
