This weekend JD and I planted more figs in-ground.  I was on gopher duty, and found I'm pretty good with a shovel at finding their tunnels!  They are marked with big sticks so I know if activity there continues to happen.

We planted a Paridiso Fig Tree and A Col De Dama Negra.

THEN came the adventure...






That was a King Snake.  They are our friends!  They eat the dreaded Rattlesnake for lunch.  Actually these 3 photos are of the first one we saw.  We saw 2 others after that, but no Rattlers!!

Suzi

Cool pics!

as much as they help us, i can't stand them. not that i fear them, maybe i do. but know enough not to make sudden move. i think they just look icky. i try to chase them away if i see them. if they run away. good. if they stand their ground, i give them time to calm down and go away. if they hiss at me. they are pushing it. if they strike at me, they are dead. this silly brown thing with arrow shaped head hissed and strike at me few days ago when i was cleaning my yard. guess where that one went.

Thanks for sharing, nice pix!

I've killed several copper heads in my yard and 3 coral snakes, we got feral cats and WHAMMO no more live snakes.
Thanks for sharing Suzi. I think pictures of snakes are beautiful, not so much in person.

BTW they are the worst feral cats ever even sitting on laps.

Tami,

We had a feral cat once.  My neighbor left their cat, old Josh, with us when they moved, saying he liked me better than them.  So I fed him and he was joined by this feral kitten, and she stayed around for quite a while.  Then one day old Josh ate, left, and never came back.  Neither did she.

We have so many destructive voles, gophers and insects, I'm getting used to the idea of a friendly helper under the guise of a snake.  I read up on the 3 local snakes we have, and only one, the rattlesnake, is venomous.  The others are harmless, but do eat all the critters that love to destroy my plants and trees!

My neighbors with pets, keep them inside mostly, because coyotes and bobcats are lurking.  We even have mountain lions.  My chain link fence in back keeps out the coyotes, but not the bobcats!  Raccoons and Possums seem to find a way in.  There are plenty of squirrels, gophers, lizards, rabbits and birds for the four legged and slithering carnivores out there.

I don't intend to become a bird watcher or feeder (don't want to attract them to my vineyard, figs, and other fruits), but there are so many beautiful birds around.  The Quail are very cute during their courtship, and we have these bright blue birds, Robbins with the red breast, and so many others.  The male quail have a touch of blue on their chests.  They strut around trying so hard to impress!!

I would never get as close to a rattlesnake for the sake of a photo as I did the King snake.  Copperheads and coral snakes are both venomous, right?  OMG!  There was this country western song about 25-30 years ago, and my sons tease me every time there is a family thing about me sobbing while listening to that song on the radio while I was driving them somewhere.  I couldn't even tell the story without losing it.  They laugh.  I cried.  It was about a cottonmouth.  Mom told big brother to go to the river and fetch water, and take little brother along.  So, little brother investigates a noise in the grass, gets bit, doctor can't do a thing.  Kid is outside waiting, swatting flies.  Door slams, Dr. comforts Moma, "Cottonmouth can kill a grown man."  The kid goes to the shed to get an axe to chop that cottonmouth's head!!  Mel Tillis.  

A rattlesnake gives a warning!  He just doesn't want you to step on him! RUN!!

Suzi

Before we moved here I researched all the flora and fauna native to this area. I was terrified to find so many venomous snakes and spiders. I asked the realtor about it and she says "don't worry you never find them in residential neighborhoods. BS!!! We were here 3 days and were trying to remove an overgrown bush along the front walk and this is what we found. (Hubby is terrified of them so I took his head off.)


Yup a Copperhead. Venomous but probably won't kill you, you'll just end up with $30K in doctor's bills. That was the first and it just snowballed. The realtor didn't take into account each residence here has at least an acre so all the creepy crawlies love it. We were even coming home a couple weeks ago and what was in the ditch? Mr. Alligator!

The feral cat showed up right after we moved in and had kittens so we let the one that survived stay then I trapped them both and had them fixed. They stay home and hunt snakes, love it.
As far as birds are concerned I'm a little apprehensive. We are on the birding trail so we get huge flocks through twice a year and here's hoping they don't like figs.


I really loved the picture you posted Suzi of the guys planting your tree. You have a beautiful place and I've thought about it several times since you posted. The snake pictures just reafirm. I think it's wonderful that you have wine country over fig country, what a great place to have your coffee or whatever else you may want.