The snake became quite mad once we put it in a container.
It struck at the sides which gave our younger children a good lesson on how fast a snake can strike.
This juvenile probably came from the "Big Mama" black snake Clint allows to live in his workshop.
Big Mama's lived here longer than we have! I've seen her and she is BIG.
Clint has been in there right next to her and she just leaves when she sees him.
How do you like my baby boy?
He's turning the ladies' heads every where we go now.
Just a lil' ole black snake!
When I cleaned out the flowerbed last week, I put down landscaping fabric for weed suppression.
Brandon kicked up a black snake while weed eating in the orchard and it went right under the weed barrier.
Brandon caught it so we could relocate it some place it is not likely to give me a good scare.
I don't act hysterical around snakes and will even handle them, but I do not like surprises!
Amanda found a second black widow spider near the same location as the first. We have been here almost 14 years and have never seen one before and now we have found two in two weeks. I speculate they came in some firewood we brought home. I am taking steps to lower their numbers: cleaning up all I can, keeping the grass down, drying out damp areas, natural pesticides to cut down on bugs (their food source) and of course, looking for egg sacks to destroy whenever we find one. Some of the adults will die in the fall, so it will be safe to handle the firewood this winter. Some of the adults can overwinter and survive a few years.
If there is an egg case present in a black widow spider's nest, she will aggressively protect it which means you are more likely to be bitten. Use caution! "The most dangerous place in the world is between a mother and her children!"
