Things Can Get a Bit Scary Around Here

Yesterday was one of those days when I remember that I don't live in a Disney movie, where all the critters are cute and friendly. I had been outside with the children, watering plants, when my five-year-old daughter started swinging on the playset. She said, "Mom! There's a spider!"

To be clear, that's not unusual. We have lots of spiders around the house, most of them are no trouble and they help keep the fly population down. This time, however, when I went to see the spider, my daughter said, "I think it's a black widow." Uh-oh.

First, let me say, I'm proud of my little girl's ability to identify dangerous spiders. Second, let me say, "EEEEEWWWWW!!!" I attempted to smash the spider between my flip-flops. Unfortunately, it then disappeared. Hopefully, it fell on the ground and died. Hopefully.

Later, the drama continued. My older daughter went to the chicken coop to check on the girls. It's been pretty hot lately, and chickens don't do well in excessive heat, so she wanted to be sure everyone was okay. She came back a few minutes later and said, "There's a snake in the chicken coop. It's just a black snake, but it's pretty big."

First let me say, I'm proud of my daughter's ability to identify a non-venomous snake (and not scream when she saw it). Second, let me say, "EEEEEEWWWWW!!!" As luck would have it, Superhero Dad had already left his office and was on the way home. He went out to the coop, searched the area thoroughly and...the snake was gone.

So, that's life in the country. How are things at your place?

Adventures Around the Homestead

Yesterday was a pretty good day around here. The children and I finished reading their history book for this year. We still have some other subjects to complete, but we're almost ready for summer vacation.

Yesterday was also warm, as in 90 degrees. Oh, sure, by the end of July we'll be longing for the chill of a 90 degree day, but right now, it seems pretty hot. So, after working in the vegetable garden for a bit, mostly digging up weeds, I was ready for a dip in the pool.

I got myself and my children all set to get in the water, bathing suits on, slathered with sunscreen, a cooler filled with drinks and my radio on the little table between lounge chairs. Only thing left was to check the pool's filter basket for creepy crawlies. I found one.

It was a scarlet snake, a red, black and white snake that lives in our area. The are not venomous and are small, no bigger around than my finger. Last year, I encountered my first one in the pool, but it was, umm, deceased. This one was very much alive. (The photo is from UGA's website.)


I use a gizmo that we got from the pool supply store to check the filter basket. It has a hook on one end to lift the cover and a little basket on the other end to scoop up frogs and such that I don't want to pick up with my hand. I used the hook end to grab the snake and then tossed it into the woods. It tried to coil up and look fierce, but I wasn't fooled.


I felt so brave. It's the first time I've had to cope with a live snake on my own, although I'm not sure that little guy counts. He (or she) was kind of cute.

Eeeeek! But cool.

This guy (or girl) gave me a start while cleaning out my pool's skimmer basket. Fortunately, I have a hook for lifting it so my hand wasn't too close. My first thought was, "Coral snake!" but I remembered the rhyme my dad taught me when I was a little girl: Red on yellow --Kills a fellow.

In other words, if the red and yellow bands on a snake are next to each other, with no black in between, it's a venomous coral snake. If there's black between the red and yellow, you're okay.

My son and I looked this snake up in Snakes of Georgia and South Carolina and learned that it is called a scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea) and they are usually a little over 1 foot long, just like this one. It is different from a scarlet king snake in that it's bands do not completely circle the body. A scarlet snake has the red, black and white/yellow bands on top, but has a mostly white belly. And, for the record, I didn't kill it. It hadn't survived the night in the pool.

Finding it in our pool wouldn't have surprised me if I had read the snake book more carefully. To quote: "The scarlet snake is one of the most common snakes to fall into residential swimming pools in areas with sandy soil."

Well, there you go.