When the summer gets hot, so do the snakes, and you just might come home to find one cooling off in the moist mulch of your garden or on your front doorstep (as we did)!
How could you NOT love this garter snake? What a sweet face! This Western Ribbon Snake (also know as a "garden" or "grass" snake) is very common in our area and often seen around homes. They can be found just about anywhere that they can find a bit of dark, moist soil (your beautiful mulched landscaping, for instance). If you're a gardener, you should encourage these beautiful snakes to stick around, because they love to feed on snails, slugs, insects, and small mice!
How will you recognize the Western Ribbon Snake? It's a very thin snake, although it can be as long as 30 inches. It has a yellow or orange stripe down the center of its back, and two creamy light-yellow stripes on the sides (separated by two wide, black stripes along the back). The head is black with a yellow or orange spot on the top, and it's belly is cream-colored or very pale green. Beautiful!! As with most snakes, this gardener's friend is completely harmless, and will happily slither away!
1 comment:
I love this litte guy! Normally I don't think snakes are cute, but he's a real cutie! Very interesting write up on nature in The Woodlands! Must be wonderful to live there.
From Karen and Eric
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