Steve and I saw a couple fun sightings today! Our first sighting was a group of dozens of bikers on Harleys riding down our street. They could have been a different brand of bike, but when I think of cruiser motorcycles, I think of Harleys, which I’m sure most people do as well.
When we were coming out of our neighborhood we had to wait FOREVER for them all to pass so we could pull out onto the street. They just kept coming and coming! When we pulled out behind them, I thought it might be a good idea to take some pictures with my little point and shoot camera. So that is why the quality isn’t that great when I was zoomed in. But hey, it’s what I had with me, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it!
This was the first time I had seen this many bikers in one spot since we moved to Tennessee. Normally we’d only see 2 or 3 at one time, so this was quite a treat.
I felt like we were transported to Sturgis, North Dakota for the Biker Convention!
Our second fun sighting of the day was a King Snake in the back yard of the Smoke House property that we’re rehabbing.
Isn’t he a cute little guy? I spotted him from the master bedroom window and said “Oh my goodness! There’s a snake in the backyard!!” Then Steve and I promptly ran down to take a closer look.
It was the first time I had seen a snake in the wild. You know, without it being someone’s pet.
Steve has been researching the venomous snakes that are native to Tennessee, so he knew that this one wasn’t poisonous. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten this close! When we got back inside Steve said he was proud of me for being so brave. I think he thought that I would scream and be afraid like most girls, but I HAVE held a couple snakes before. Plus, there was just something about this one’s face that didn’t look mean.
It had to have been at least 4 feet long! I wanted to touch it, but Steve wouldn’t let me.
When we got home, we looked up different Tennessee snakes to figure out what breed it was, and that’s when we discovered that it was a King Snake. Those are the snakes you WANT to have hanging around. They eat rodents and other pesky animals, as well as venomous snakes occasionally!
Steve was brave and got kinda close to it too. Next time we see a King Snake, we might even be brave enough to touch it!
After we walked back up to the deck, Boomer (that’s what I named him) crawled under the deck, and when we came out about an hour later he was nowhere to be found. There are several holes in the yard that he could have crawled into.
Bye Boomer! Thank you for letting me get so close without biting me! You are a very pretty snake, and I hope we see you again! You are welcome in our yard anytime, as long as you eat pesky critters and keep other not so friendly snakes away. 🙂
Great pics of Boomer. Being a country boy I have caught more than my fair share of king snakes having not been biten yet.
Thank goodness! I think king snakes are constrictors, right?
Love all the bikers! I wonder if they were doing some kind of charity ride. You see that around here every now and then.
I’m glad yall left Boomer to wriggle around in peace. I’m not a huge fan of snakes, and I’d prefer to never see them at all, but I am thankful for the good ones like Boomer. Anything that keeps rodents away but doesn’t hurt pets or people is okay with me! And, girl…I’m proud of how close you got!!
Hope you’re having a good weekend, friend!
*Julie
Hmm, I’m not sure about the charity ride. Could be. Yah, I thought that I would be really squeemish when it came to a real live snake in the wild, but I was surprisingly calm and curious about him. And now that I know that he’s not venomous, I wanna see him again so I can possible touch him. 🙂
I think you get that non-squeamish nature from me. . .remember who had to kill all the bugs and critters in our house as you were growing up? Ha! I always liked to hold snakes, too, as did Grandma Lawrence. 🙂 Thanks again for the beautiful flowers, the gift card, and Mother’s Day card. You made me feel very loved. Love you, too, honey!
Eeks. I get the heebie-jeebies around snakes, even if I know they are not poisonous.