Spiders and Snakes...and Turkeys

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of spiders and snakes...yet. But here are two recent encounters. First, when picking up trash at a trailhead last week Nancy tried to put a Black Widow spider in the garbage bag I was holding. The beautiful shiny, patent leather black, spider was clinging to a piece of metal that Nancy was holding. There was a perfect red hour-glass shape on the underside of the abdomen. I took the spider home and tried to get a picture, but my camera doesn't focus close enough to get a good picture of something so small. The spider body was about the size of a pea.

A lot of people seem to be concerned about Brown Recluse spiders these days, but Black Widows are probably more common than you might think and their bite is supposedly very painful and can be very dangerous. Their web is cottony and messy and there should be no mistaking the shiny black female spider with the red hour-glass underneath. The males look much different and are not poisonous.

As for snakes, one of our hiking buddies called me a few days ago saying that he just encountered a Copperhead in his yard. He was mowing and came within a few feet of the snake stretched out on the one sunny spot in the yard. He confirmed the identification with several other people. I am still turning over logs and rocks looking for my first Copperhead or Rattlesnake in this area.


I do have a picture of a friendlier outdoor subject. This morning at 6:15am I looked out my front window and saw 2 Wild Turkeys in the yard. We see turkey regularly but only saw them in the yard once before. I had just a few seconds to grab the camera and snap a picture of this one through the blinds before he stepped into the trees in the lot next door.