Feelin' a little snakey today...

Every morning I get up and, first thing, open all of the curtains and blinds. I love the outdoors, and we're fortunate to have a house with so many windows...Today, though, I was greeted by a little friend peeking out of the corner of our porch roof:

Hi, there! Thought I'd pop out for a visit.

Then he decided to come on out, probably looking for a patch of sunshine after all the gloomy, chilly rain we've had. I grabbed my Olympus and was soon frustrated with (a) my dirty windows, and (b) the camera's limitations and uncharged battery.

Still, it was fun to see how long he was when he stretched out:

See his body over on the right side, and his head just barely peeking out on the left?

My annoyance at said battery mounted when he decided to go for a stroll -- or, rather, a slither. Yep. The damn thing died. Right then and there. And I missed what may be the best snake shots I'll ever have the opportunity to nab. Still, I can try to describe in words the graceful beauty of this 5.5-foot Black Snake coiling down the hanging plant on the left.

First, he wrapped langourously around the hanger, before lowering himself to the porch railing. At that time, his tail was still up at the top of the planter, and his head was halfway down the railing. Amazingly athletic and balletic.

Slowly he swirled, round and round, curling himself down to the ground, then heading off through our various recycling/trash bins, in the direction of the little building we call "the shed," though it could make a very cute, very small cottage.

See y'all later!

Last year I pulled a big ole snake skin -- moulted -- out of the same area under the porch eaves. So I figure he must have his headquarters in our laundry room's eaves somewhere. Good thing I'm not scared of snakes, though my husband probably won't want to wash the clothes for a while...

Oh, well. Such is life in the country. And there is an upshot to all this: Between Blackie (as I christened him last year) and Charley, the great orange hunter, I doubt we'll have any mice in the house this summer!


PS. My Internet is still patchy at home, so please bear with me a little longer...

Feelin' a little snakey today...