I had laid out some black plastic (mulch from the tomatoes I planted a couple years ago) to kill grass where I’m going to be expanding one of our gardens. When I pulled back the plastic, I saw two snakes. And while I’ve seen much bigger, these weren’t tiny.
This is the bigger one. The smaller one was a few inches shorter. I’m no expert when it comes to identifying snakes, but an internet search suggests it’s an Eastern Garter snake. They’re not dangerous to humans, and they eat basically anything they can overpower–crickets, slugs, stinkbugs, etc. I’m happy to have them here.
While folks have heard me complain plenty about the deer, foxes, raccoons, and opossums here, I don’t give enough credit to all the helpful wildlife we rely on so much. We have hawks and owls (and cats) who keep the rodents under control, and crows who used to chase the hawks away from the chickens. We have an astounding number of preying mantises of all sizes, as well as ladybugs, lots of different spiders, a variety of song birds, and woodpeckers, all eating the bugs that like to eat our vegetables. I can’t recall the last time I’ve stuck a shovel into the soil without uncovering a couple earthworms. We are pretty overwhelmed with Brown Marmorated Stinkbugs and Emerald Ash Borers, but I’m counting on all these other critters to help keep them under control.
