SNAKE

I haven't mentioned this to Honey yet - she probably wouldn't want to know - but I saw a really beautiful snake here at the old Boggy Thicket yesterday.

I had been in my usual spot, leaning on the fence while I smoked a cigarette, when I thought I heard Tinker scratch at the back door.  She is very polite, won't bark or whine, just scratch lightly a time or two.  Anyway, I stepped over to the door and found that she wasn't there.  

When I turned around, I found that my spot by the fence had been usurped by a Blue Striped Garter Snake.

It was a beautiful specimen, with brilliant iridescent stripes of black and aquamarine, and it was huge by garter snake standards.  The University of Florida says Blue Stripes (Thamnophis sirtalis similis) normally max out at about 20 to 26 inches in length, with the largest on record at 39.25 - this one was easily three feet long.

I watched it and it watched me for a while. I thought about going for my camera, but knew it would be long gone before I got back.

Finally, I watched as it went through the fence and into the lariope.  By the time I got back to my spot, it has disappeared entirely.