ok, so i saw 5- count 'em 5 snakes in my yard yesterday, and i am elated. i am not a snake fancier, nor one of those scary snake handler-bible belt types. i do see good environmental signs in having a healthy crop of snakes. for starts- my yard is nearly pesticide-free(read this as too mean to remember to put pesticide on my plants)- so there are no chemicals to kill off reptiles. secondly, the kinds of snakes we have appear to be the kind that keep down the rodent population- we are not seeing mice in the house these days. the rodent thing is according to ernst- i haven't gotten close enough to these snakes to know what kind they are- ecw says king snakes and i will take his word for it. they are big and long and 3 seem to live together in a commune on the other side of the deck. the others are garter snakes, smaller- who live amongst the rose bushes. as i said, the appearance of healthy snakes must mean that our environment is relatively healthy for us humans. i will feel even better about it if i start seeing frogs- nonmutated frogs, that is.......

we have a mourning dove nesting in our trellis rose bush- poor girl has found a little place among the thorns to nest- you gotta love any mother who would risk so much for her young.