Thread Drift

[Duck on Wheels]

Looks to me like a garter snake (aka garden snake). Very nice! You'll probably notice more of a dent in the local slug population than in mice, but still a very pretty, useful, and harmless animal to have around. A good neighbor. Congratulations

[Zen]

I will name her Gertie.

[Biciclista]

looks rather large for a garter snake, but maybe they are bigger in other regions?
oboy, there are 3 kinds, that explains it!!
http://greennature.com/article86.html
Garter snakes come in a variety of colorings. Generally, the Eastern garter snake can be identified by its dark body with three stripes, a thin one on its back and thicker ones on either side. The stripes are normally yellow. Eighteenth-century Moravian missionary, David Zeisberger, described garter snakes as, "a kind of striped, brightly marked snakes which are small and harmless.

http://greennature.com/article86.html
All garter snakes are characterized as small (two to three feet), thin and colorfully striped.

Florida has blue garter snakes, Texas has Checkered Garter Snakes, the West Coast has different versions of red garter snakes.

Apart from the species that have unusual field markings, multiple, similar looking, species can be found in many areas of the United States, sometimes making for identification problems.
close-up of a red-sided garter snake

Garter snake identification can be easy with a good picture. The suggestion may sound a bit frightening, however, keep in mind that garter snakes are typically unaggressive species with less than great eyesight.

They generally feel vibrations in the ground as their first indication of a human presence. Treading lightly and move slowly, makes it pretty easy to get within inches of one for a picture.
close-up of a northwestern garter snake or mountain garter snake

Once the picture is in hand, identification starts by noticing the color of the stripes running down its back, the color of its belly, and its facial markings.

The first and second pictures shows the Red-sided Garter snake, the first from a distance, the second from close-up. The close-up shows the snake's reddish color face, with the exception of the light color end of the lower jaw.

The third picture of a Northwestern Garter snake (Thamnophis ordinoides) was taken at close range using a flash. Sometimes they are called a Mountain Garter Snake, however, they should not be confused with Thamnophis elegans elegans, the Mountain Garter Snake of Northern and Central California.
Usually there are no more than a handful of garter species in any one area. With picture in hand and the use of a local reptile guide that also includes pictures, identification skills can only improve.

The Valley Garter Snake and Mountain Garter Snake links in the box on the right point to additional western species.

[OakLeaf]

I'd say it's closer to 3 feet than 2. I didn't expect that it was big enough to eat adult mice, but I'm hoping its scent repels them. And if it will eat baby mice, all the better. It was definitely looking a bit "lumpy" last week.

Now, if I could get one of those big black rat snakes to move into the garage, maybe the garter snake can move into the car.

[katluvr]

So did a lot of old threads get revitalized by that bit of spam that hit a few of the topics?
Hmmmmmmm
Or are some folks just out their searching for a topic to comment on?

[Biciclista]

um I dunno.

Sometimes it seems like newbies will comment on Something old, but that underwear thing for sure was from a spammer.

[bmccasland]

For a week anyway.

I'm taking a week's vacation and not going anywhere. When folks at the office asked where I was going, I said "not here". The stress of the office, getting beaten up in the press by the press and by state officials has really gotten to me + the lack of response by our leadership. I had to be away. So I looked at my calendar - saw a week with no meetings, and put in for the time off. I just finished some major projects and thought I'd take advantage of the time before it filled up, as I know it will.

FREEEEEEEEE.

One of my plans is to take my bike over across Lake Pontchartrain to ride the rails-to-trails bike path that I've only riden a tiny portion of on the MS training rides. I'll need to look where the trail heads are to maximize my new scenery opportunities.

Monday morning is going to be sweet. Sleep in, bake some scones, sip coffee, and not go to work! (I'll also managed to time it to miss some major traffic headaches on my commute route that is going to have traffic snarled while a bridge is repaired).

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

[Crankin]

That sounds wonderful!