Eee Yuck!

Image from Herpnet 

Does  that picture look nice to you? It sure as heck didn't look nice to me... It is pretty much what I saw on our porch yesterday when I stepped outside. The ugly thing was all curled up sleeping between Mattie's water bowl and the house on the back stoop.


UMass Amherst describes the snake this way:

Milk Snake

Lampropeltis triangulum (24-36", up to 52")
A boldly patterned snake, the milk snake has a light gray to tan body covered with reddish-brown blotches bordered in black. Larger blotches on the back alternate with smaller ones on each side. The head is patterned, usually with a light colored "Y" or "V" within a reddish-brown patch. Smooth scales give this attractive snake a shiny or glossy appearance. The belly is patterned with an irregular checkerboard of black on white. Similarity of patterns causes some to confuse it with the copperhead; however, the copperhead lacks any pattern on the head. Tail rattling may also lead some to mistake it for a rattlesnake, although the two species look quite different.

Mating generally occurs in May, with females depositing 3-24 eggs in June and July. Eggs are deposited under rocks, boards or other debris, in rotting vegetation, stumps or logs, or small mammal burrows, and usually hatch in August and September.

Woodlands, fields, rocky hillsides and borders of wetlands provide natural habitat for milk snakes. They are also commonly found around houses, barns and outbuildings. Small mammals are the preferred prey of milk snakes, who are able to enter burrows and consume young in their nests. Milk snakes routinely eat other snakes, and may also take birds and bird eggs, frogs, fish, earthworms, slugs and insects. Primarily nocturnal, milk snakes can be found during the day under rocks, logs, or other cover. Although they are not very aggressive, milk snakes will bite and spray musk if handled.

I describe it as "Eeew!" You might not be surprised by my strong negative reaction upon seeing this thing. I back into the house and started a low keen-scream mix which crescendoed in vibrance and volume as I backed into the kitchen over by the stove. Mike was standing by the cocktail table repeatedly asking, "What's wrong?! What's wrong?!" I stiltedly replied, "There's a snake by the door!" He went out and poked it with a broom. The icky specimen was so sleepy it didn't really react. It finally crawled itself under the stoop to hide. I wish we would have killed the stinking thing.

All in all, my reaction was pretty funny. Mike and I were cracking up as we thought about it later...

So, welcome to our animal kingdom. We are rich in woodchucks this year (we seem to have a whole family living in the stone walls and our barn), birds, deer (or deer parts), and now snakes. I have been giving Mattie a hard time because he isn't bring in any dead mice. I guess the snake has dibs? In hindsight, we've had nary a mole or vole either... I guess we know why.

Have a snake-free day!