Eeek a snake!

As I often do, I was strolling outside looking at my newly done flower beds, which actually have veggies planted in them. I have been working hard building rock borders that would retain the topsoil I've been digging up out of the woods. Lo and behold, there was a copperhead laying on some of the rocks! Yikes!

I hotfooted it back indoors and called Son to bring out the shotgun and rid us of this dangerous snake. It was about 2 feet long and fully grown. It was apparently sluggish due to having just fed on something, because it stayed in that spot and its belly was pretty fat. Son killed it and uprooted one of my tomatoes in the process. He did, though, replant the tomato. Don't know if it will survive the ordeal or not but we certainly don't want any of us or our dog getting snake bit!

We also found a young copperhead lying out in the yard, but it was already dead. I don't know what killed it unless it was another snake. Now, we're wishing we had a king snake on the premises to help us eliminate the poisonous kind.

I'm leery now of digging up any more dirt (and I really need to fill another bed) until I've got some kind of snake-proof boots to wear outside. I recently raked all the leaves and debris from the area where my clothesline is and from other areas around the house, so that should help as long as I keep the grass short.

While raking, though, I did come across a large snake skin that one had shed off. I really don't want to encounter that fellow!