Snakes in the Grass

Nice day yesterday - exactly the "way life ought-to-be"! Sunny with a breeze and temps in the high 70s. Since there haven't been many of these this summer, it seemed like a great day to bring in some wood for the winter to come. Dave has an plan for getting it much of it out of the weather - he has built several bins in the back garage (enough to hold a winters worth - which for us is less than 2 cords!). That will be for the next year. There is enough space in the attached garage for the coming year. Anything outside (usually on a tarp and a slant for drainage) is for 2 years down the calendar. Should be a good plan. But the cycle is just beginning - so, this was to bring seasoned wood into the attached garage. As the first bucket (using the tractor bucket) was being loaded, a resident made him(her)self noticed. A small snake (2 feet or so) slithered around the pile from section to section as the wood was being removed. Now, this was kind of interesting and even a bit funny to watch. However, on the second load - it slid into the bucket with the wood and took a ride to the garage. Luckily, Dave noticed and unloaded while I stood guard with the broom just in case it escaped (the plan was for me to then scoot it out the door). That wasn't necessary though as we saw it hiding and drove the tractor back outside, lowered the bucket and got it into the grass. Problem solved. Back for another load - oops, another snake! Process starts all over again. Soon - snake number three (or the one we had rescued found the way back home). Anyway, it was like playing hide and seek. Trying to load the bucket, keep them out but not injure either one. Seemed really strange that they didn't just crawl away with all the disturbances. Finally, the pile was gone and we were down to the planks which had been used to keep the wood off the ground. Dave lifted a plank - and there they were, the rest of the family. It really was a reptile home. Slowly lowered the board over the 5 or so "teenagers" and mom and dad to give them time to move away before actually removing the roof from over their heads. Later in the afternoon, we went back and got the boards. Only one youngsters was to be seen, but both parents were all over the grass. After Dave hauled away the remaining planks, I waited around with the camera and managed a couple of shots of mom and dad. Two of the young came up out of holes in the ground, but I was unable to catch them before the hurried into the grass. Sure hope they found a new condo............