Three in three days

The rattlesnakes are on the move. I wonder to where? After seeing very few snakes here this summer, two bull snakes excepted, we suddenly have in influx of rattlers over the last couple of days. All of them have been big, today's was the biggest and heaviest, and, thankfully, very docile after some food.

The WD police force, the extended cactus wren family, immediately sounds the alert with loud cries. We generally go check out what the noise is all about and it is either Roadie, the roadrunner, whose life is being made miserable, or a snake. The snakes are usually on the porch, or in some other protected cool spot, taking a nap. This one was between the cold frame and the porch.

Dan is getting quite proficient in handling the snake tongs, and this snake could not even be bothered to rattle. He, or she, was a number of years old and beautiful. I am happy not to have to kill something that truly belongs in our environment, though not on the porch.