How To Cook A Snake

No, we did not catch the snake and are not going to cook it... but on my Google home page I have the "How to of the Day" widget set up. And there are always interesting daily how to's. But it's just hilarious to me that a recent how to of the day was "How to cook a snake." Are you kidding me?! First of all, the timing is unbelievable. And second, what the heck?! How to cook a snake? Are they serious? Do they think a bunch of rednecks, hillbillies and hicks read articles on the internet to better themselves with wisdom and knowledge on topics such as culinary science! I can only imagine who submitted this one. I've seen some interesting how to's before, like how to fireproof your pants with a warning to not play with fire (How do you test it then?), but this one takes the cake, or snake I should say.

I'll end with Amanda's take on our snake situation with her rendition of a scene from Forest Gump:

"snake salad, snake gumbo, grilled snake, snake kabobs, roasted snake, snake on a stick, bbq snake, stir fried snake, snake fried rice, snake ice cream, snake cake, snake pie, snake soup, snake burgers, smothered snake, chicken fried snake, salisbury snake, snake n shake, snake fajitas, snake n eggs, snake burrito..."

Sneaky Snake

Well, we finally got a good look at and a few pictures of the snake tonight. And we were able to find out what kind of snake he/she is, a Thamnophis marcianus also known as a Checkered Garter snake. Sweet! He was just hanging out between the house foundation and the patio waiting for bugs or geckos. He laid there while we took the pictures. I so wanted to try to grab him, but I'm glad I didn't after I read one of their defenses is to secrete feces which smells horrendous and takes a while to get rid of. Yucky! Maybe I'll try to trap him and keep him for a pet. Just joking! One website we read said it was an all around good snake to have in your yard. As long as I don't step on him accidentally walking out the back door, he can hang around as long as he likes. Until we put our house on the market in the future. Then I'll have to trap him and send him out to the country. I hope he ventures out to my back flower beds and eats some of those mice I've been seeing from our lazy neighbor's yard.

Snake Farm

Well, I called it correctly. The snake we saw on the back patio is feeding and getting bigger. I found his entire skin that was shed to allow for growth right at the back door where we saw him squeeze between the house foundation and the patio concrete. So I guess we'll probably be seeing more of the snake but less of all those geckos. I took a few pictures of it and measured it. It was two feet but probably a little longer since I could not stretch it out without breaking it. But it still didn't help me figure out what kind of snake it is.

And speaking of snake farms, Roger and I will be seeing Ray Wylie Hubbard, for free, this Friday night at the Texas State History Museum from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. One of his current popular songs is "Snake Farm." So if you would like to join us, let us know.

Rain!

We have received a good down pour in the middle of the afternoon the last three days in a row. I hope it keeps up, but I'm sure it's done. It's bringing out all kinds of critters but I guess it's better than the critters that start coming out during drought conditions looking for water everywhere, even in your house. It's funny, Murphy's Law I guess, but doesn't it always seem like when you have people over, the "exciting" things happen? We had our friend Tina from DC over for dinner Monday night since she was in Texas for a wedding and visiting family and made a stop in Austin. After we hung out on the back patio grilling salmon fillets and squash, we finished dinner and then grilled a dessert pizza with nutella and sliced strawberries and bananas. It was delicious. Roger went back out to turn off the gas after letting the grill burn everything off the grates and as soon as he got to the back door, he saw a snake across the step. I of course was intrigued and had to go see it. Tina ran to the sofa and got on top of it. I made it outside in time to try to grab his tail as he slithered in between the house foundation and the patio concrete. I wanted to see more of it so I could figure out what kind of snake it was. I'm sure it wasn't venomous, but I still wanted to know. I don't have a problem with snakes. I'd prefer them to rats and roaches. But I started to think about this snake eating up all the hundreds of geckos that are always around our house, getting fatter and fatter out on our patio and one day after we put our house on the market, buyers walk out there and see a big snake on the patio. That won't help us sell our house. Not that we're putting our house on the market any time soon, but it will happen eventually. So I'm going to wait to see how many more times we see the snake before I do something about it. I don't think it's just the rain that's bringing out all the critters I've been seeing in the yard and flower beds lately. The newest neighbors in the lot behind us don't mow their acreage like the previous owner so the grass is very tall and a breeding ground for critters. I've seen more snakes and fat, fat, lizards this summer than since we originally bought the house. And I think I saw a mouse, but I'm not positive. You gotta love irresponsible neighbors.