Nancy's friend Ruthie

Click on any photo for a much larger view.

Just a short post to tell you about Nancy's new gardening buddy.

Nancy was out planting some flowers about a week ago. We live in an area with lots of interesting critters so we always look where we walk and where we reach when working outside. Nancy had been up and down the hill several times over the course of an hour.

However, once when she turned around and started toward the house she noticed that a new gardening friend had slipped between Nancy and the house. The new friend was Ruthie the rattlesnake.

We had seen rattlesnakes before, within a couple of blocks away and neighbors on each side of us had rattlesnake visitors in their yards, but Ruthie was a surprise visitor. She was moving very slowly in a straight line across the yard. While Nancy watched from a safe distance I took a number of pictures of Ruthie. I say "Ruthie" but it could have been "Randall". You can't tell rattlesnake sex without probing in private rattlesnake places.

She knew I was there but didn't coil or rattle until I tossed some mulch on her to get her to coil for a photo op. Ruthie then uncoiled and slowly proceeded across my neighbor's yard and down into the woods. She was about 3 1/2 feet long and had 9 perfect rattles. None were broken off as they often are.


There are about 3 or 4 of us on this street that may be the only ones that wouldn't have sliced Ruthie in half with a shovel. Most folks that I know slice every snake they see in half. Many harmless and beneficial snakes are killed this way. Even venomous snakes like rattlesnakes and copperheads are beneficial and protected by law and shouldn't be killed. But it is impossible to convince most
folks of this.

We'll remember to keep an eye out for Ruthie in the future.