Snakes and hummingbirds

With the exception of having to go get a poison ivy shot first thing this morning, today was a lovely day. At 3pm today, the temperature was 81! That is not a typo - 81 in August. Heaven!

I didn't want to do anything strenuous and get sweaty since it interferes with the poison ivy so I put the hedge trimming on the back burner and just enjoyed the day at a leisurely pace, watering and fertilizing, mowing and some light pruning here and there.

I am not a snake lover so I got quite a jolt when I walked up the side gate to water the portulaca and saw this -

This green snake is quite harmless and it eats insects in the garden. I know that now so when I come across one, I don't panic. I watched this guy for about 30 minutes. He stayed in this position for quite a while slowly making his way down the opposite side. 

He actually looks like he is smiling, doesn't he? He lingered here before turning back up and heading toward the pots of portulaca. He crawled halfway in them and lingered -

He then left the pot and started crawling up the archway over the gate -

And across the top -

In the meantime, I think the hummingbirds were miffed that I was invading their territory. One finally showed up -

After photographing the hummingbirds, I started looking for the snake again and couldn't find him. If he was in the roses and vines on the archway, his camouflage was excellent. Or he may have got in a hurry and crawled down really fast.



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy