Snake in the Grass

Well, it didn’t seem like last weekend’s real life Wild Kingdom experience with the garter snake in our garden could be topped. But then this weekend came along and offered a similar high drama.

This time, everything happened out in the yard. The boy called out “Look a snake!” The Wife looked out of reflex, and then quickly went back to what she’d been doing. In the meantime, I looked out in the yard and spotted the frog first. Then I saw the snake trailing behind it, keeping pace pretty well. It was another garter snake.

The frog hopped about half-way across the yard and then decided to stop. That was the only mistake it took for the snake, who reared up and snagged it. The kids and walked over to check things out. It was a tree frog, and was squeaking up a storm. The snake was a bigger version of the one from last week, probably about 2 feet long. I considered going to get the camera, but the snake made quick work of the frog. The whole thing was done in less than a minute.

By that time, our dog was circling and sniffing, trying to figure out what to do. Apparently, leaving well enough alone wasn’t an option. The dog would carefully scent his way in, the snake would flick it’s tongue and then the dog would jump back and bark, circle around a bit and start it all over again.

So I grabbed the dog and had the boy step towards the snake and it took it’s leave of the yard. Heading back to the quieter environs of the hedges.