June was hot, Hot, HOT
June was dry, Dry, DRY
June was the month of bugs (from the big tarantula hawk wasps, to the microscopic gnats), withering flowers, disappearing birds, and snakes! We seemed to encounter an extraordinary number of snakes this month, including gopher (bull) snakes, diamondback rattlesnakes, patch nose snakes, garter snakes, and one very scary prairie rattlesnake. Read on for that story.
Luna and the Prairie Rattler! Our scariest encounter was with a 3-foot prairie rattlesnake right in our front courtyard. One day he had crawled out from the shade of a blue spruce to warm up in the morning sun. It was Luna that had changed his demeanor from placid to pissed off. Prairie rattlers don’t typically alert trespassers; that’s the secret to their hunting success, and Luna didn’t recognize the danger. She began sniffing around and unintentionally violated his personal space. The snake responded by instantly coiling and violently rattling his tail. The noise seemed deafening and was definitely alarming. As I came running to Luna’s rescue, Roy noticed the commotion and quickly arrived with snake stick and bucket in hand. By this time the snake had backed into a corner, furiously rattling, but was relatively easy to capture. Snake temporarily out of the way, we then carefully checked Luna for signs of snake bite (none detected! Lucky Luna).
Now back to the snake in bucket. It had taken less than 30 seconds for Roy to capture and slip him into the 5 gallon bucket. It was then that I was able to take my first photos, from a respectable distance just in case the snake decided to leap clear of the bucket!. If looks could kill, well ………….. About 15-20 photos later, the bucket lid was secured in place, and we took the snake for a little ride about a mile from home where he was carefully released in an uninhabited area, unharmed.
Again, a big shout-out to “Made by Fay” for the inspiring “Littles” idea! Stay tuned for the next installment of “Littles.”
July 27, 2023
a curious nature 
Another exciting snake encounter! Whew, so glad Luna is ok. So scary that it didn’t make the rattle alert. So, a snake stick and covered pail is part of the NM home owner’s tools! 😉 The shadowing on your snake sketch is phenomenal! I’m enamored with your wildflowers, birds and insects — all of your page elements are beautiful! Hope you get a few degrees relief very, very soon!
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Wow! Thanks so so much Karen! Yes, standard NM homeowner’s utility tools do include not just one 5 gallon bucket with lid and snake stick, but one set of everything at every doorway. For us, that means 5 of each! And we have spares in the garage and RV! Never know. Thanks so much for your comments on all the drawings, especially the shadowing under the snake. I thought it was too intense, but it was an intensely sunny day. We may get a few drops of rain today. Yay!
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Barb –
Beautifully rendered journal pages and quite a story about the rattler!
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Thanks so so much Dee!
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Your journal pages are beautiful. Thanks for inspiring me! 🙂
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Thank you so much for following and for the wonderful comment! I’m delighted my pages are inspiring. 😀
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My pleasure, Barb. 🙂🌺
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