Saturday, May 16, 2009

Grey Ratsnake Strikes Again! ... Well, ...Not Really


I was planning on a later post involving some arboraerial photography and tree surgery, but as Sara N. Dippity would have it ... I found something.


(Snake photos by Junior)

Look at that bulge.
Is she pregnant or did she just eat?
I've posted pics of this grey ratsnake in the past showing her eating my chicken eggs and also pics of her with countable egg lumps after she enjoyed an egg meal.
None of my birds are laying now, so there's no source of large eggs to eat. Laya's boat nest failed long ago (the eggs rolled under a paddle in the boat and she couldn't get to them).

I'm hoping it might be a squirrel in there as the little tree rats are high on the suspect list of missing blueberries in my blueberry patch. They are just beginning to turn blue this week, the berries, not the squirrels, but if I can help some of THEM turn blue I will.
Treerats!!



I imagine it's a meal, just as I imagine (in an educated sorta way) that due to her size she is a she.
If they are her own eggs, then I really have a reason to smile, because you just can't have too many ratsnakes around the place.

Yes, she's wild. No, she made no attempt to bite me ...
... and yes, I released her under the pump house where she was heading, when our paths crossed as I prepared to do tree surgery.

More on that tree surgery stuff tomorrow ... if I survive.

heehee

11 comments:

Robbie said...

It's a meal. I breed snakes.. errr.. well, actually the snakes that I keep breed each other..
but anyway, the eggs are carried much lower in the body and do not show a lump. Their lower body justs looks a little fatter when they are full of their own eggs.
:-)
robbie

Pablo said...

Wow! Look how long that thing is! The ladder, I mean.

threecollie said...

Now that is a snake...not exactly shrinking is it?

robin andrea said...

She's a beauty. It's very cool that she stays and hangs around your place. Almost like a pet snake, only without the responsibility. I guess there's no squirrel-proofing the blueberries. Well, your friend looks like she's willing to take that little problem off your hands.

R.Powers said...

Robbie,
Welcome to Pure Florida! Thanks for the expert opinion.

Pablo,
I hear that alot.

3C,
She's a well fed beauty!

Robin,
It really is neat. She doesn't make a fuss when I catch her, just kind of grins and bears it.

Meems said...

Hey FC,
That is a HUGE rat snake.
I picked up a cushion off a bench in my screened porch a couple days ago and found a red rat snake wrapped around the slats. Not nearly as large as your gray but a good sized one. What if I had sat down instead of moving the cushion to clean it? I'm not as brave as you with them but I did manage to get it outside and let it go... I'd be happy if it found a squirrel or two.
Meems @ For the Love of Florida

jean said...

I know I'm supposed to be looking at the snake but all I could see were your arms. Nice guns, as my son would say.

R.Powers said...

Meems,
God bless you girl. Do you know how many people would have taken a hoe to that poor snake?
Thanks for taking the time to rescue it.

C/Jean,
(Blushing) ... why, thank you maam.

tsiya said...

I used to have a friend in Old Town, Gray Rat Snakes all over his land, and some Gulf Hammock Rat Snakes. They hybridize, just to confuse things even more. Nothing but reds and yellows around here, and they are getting scarce. The newcomers in the developments kill anything that crawls.

Miz S said...

You look so damn HAPPY when you are holding a snake. It makes me smile.

kane66 said...

A very Nice Looking Grey Rat Snake I am Jealous That Would Be a Pet if I Caught Him