Slithering Snake in Suburbia

Silly me! Why I thought I would never see a snake in our garden here in Upstate New York, I don’t know.  I had my fill as a young girl in Massachusetts and then the big, long rattlesnakes in Colorado, followed by a few bull snakes in Tennessee.  I have never been a fan of snakes.

A package was delivered to the front porch so I went outside, and the young man informed me of a snake in the garden! Intrigued, I had him point it out.  Am I braver these days?  They are not my favorite.   I fetched the iPad and took photos.  How long was this visitor?  About 18″-24″ long and just sunning itself and minding its own business.

There are plenty of little neighborhood boys who would relish a glance of this. Maybe even the girls.  In Massachusetts, we just ran screaming to our father who would get his ax and that would take care of matters.  Once we really shouted loudly when our mother unknowingly brought one into our Sturbridge house in her laundry basket.  The living room was dim as we viewed television.  Our mother folded laundry when out of the corner of my eye, I saw all the laundry thrown up to the ceiling as she shouted for our father.

My biologist husband took one look and declared it a harmless garter snake and probably a female. How does he do that?  So now I will name this visitor:  Sage.  Sage enough to slither away from prying eyes.  Never a dull moment in paradise!