Snake story for the day...

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13. A snake story

First about thirty five years ago we had thistle socks hanging in the crepe myrtles next to the house. One day a big gray rat snake was hanging out - literally - above the thistle sock. It was the perfect location since the snake blended in with the bark on the crepe myrtle. A couple of days later, after the snake had been showing up every day, it managed to catch and eat a goldfinch. I might have pictures somewhere of the process. So I rigged a snake pole, caught the snake, and drove it a few miles down the road and released it on one of the plantations.

The next day, a red rat snake had taken over the same spot. It was slightly smaller, but was very ambitious. I caught it, carried it down the road, released it in a different spot. Two days later a corn snake (yellow rat snake, we called it) was at the snake post. Repeat. A day or two later another snake showed up, again staking out the thistle sock.

I gave up and took down the thistle socks. The goldfinch still showed up and so did the snakes, but I didn't see any more birds captured by the snakes.