Not even venomous!

A few weeks ago after the rains had stop and things were starting to dry up, we noticed quite a few snakes in the yard or on the road. I don't know why, but it was also quite hot so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. One day I get a call from my mother-in-law. She is frantic. Says there is a copperhead:

or a water moccasin (pix below)! (Or worse, a Cottonmouth Water Moccasin!) So of course she asks me to kinda come over where she is at to see it. I wasn't going to get near it if it was one of those 2 or 3 snakes as they are B-AAAA-D! As I went out she pointed to the area next to a tree, the same area that Josh had found a snake many years before (and I would have pictures if Shawn hadn't deleted all my pictures for that year) and held up for us to see. I stand on the picnic table bench. I looked and looked and couldn't see anything. She told me it was now moving, and then that's when I saw the little head slithering across the way. My mother-in-law is standing just feet from it, and I am like "uh, you better move... what if it comes back towards you?" She moves back a foot or so. Then she sees my father-in-law who is WAY across the hay field. On a tractor. Cutting hay. She starts yelling for him. I said STOP... he can't hear you!! She does but then turns towards the chicken houses and starts yelling for the hired-hand to come over. I ask her why, and that it can just go in the trees/bushes there. "NO, the kids play out here, and I know it's (one of the above snakes)!" I couldn't disagree really about that especially if it was one. Hired-hand comes and chops up the snake. The whole thing still makes me laugh some, especially her yelling at the father-in-law. Classic.

Of course as soon as the kids are home from school, she is right out there with a stick telling them to always have a stick in their hand for now on, and that they don't need to play outside. Oh, and something else I just remembered as she was waiting on the hired-hand: She started barking. I was like "what the heck are you doing?" She said loud noises scare away snakes, and then she also starts clapping. So I was like great... got a barking, clapping happy mother-in-law across the yard. Even Tex & Mex are next to the snake, sniffing it, all that... and nothing.

BUT, a few days later another snake is noticed by Lauren & Jacob. Lauren tries to shoot it with the BB gun that Jacob had, but it just bounced off. Tex & Mex are again around the snake, and this time the snake strikes out at Tex and gets him in the eye. Oh, poor dog! First the broken leg, and now the eye! We were sure he was going to be dead at any moment. But he lived. And Lauren chopped that snake up just as good as the hired-hand did. And the moment they told me about it, I told them NOT TO TELL MAMAW (mother-in-law).

THEN a few days after that, Shawn was actually home, and was in the garden with the kids, and low & behold, this came out of the bushes next to the garden:

The same type of snake as the 2 times before. Kids did see the 1st one as Mamaw made the hired-hand keep it there so the kids could see it, and of course it looked like the 2nd snake too. What is it? A rat snake! Not even venomous (or poisonous, however you say it, even though venomous is the correct one)! It's called a rat snake, but sometimes it gets called a chicken snake because sometimes it's found next to chicken houses/coups. SURPRISE!! And we have 3 huge long Tyson chicken houses!! These snakes are actually what you want around if you HAD TO HAVE A SNAKE in your yard, as it takes care of all rodents! And rodents (mice/rats) love being by chickens, especially baby chickens (rats to eat chickens, but mice to eat the feed at all times), so that's why they are sometimes called chicken snakes because they are usually seen around chicken areas, but really they are getting the rodents! Make sense? And I sure rather have a snake like this around then rats & mice!! Agree? But there is no doubt about it...

A SNAKE IS A SNAKE!! YUCK!