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hisssss

snake

Although I’ve lived in Arizona my entire life, I’ve never seen a snake in my yard before. A couple of times out in the “wild” but never on my property… that is… until now.

The snake above is not the exact snake from my yard, but he is the same type… a nonvenomous Pituophi catenifer deserticola – more commonly known as a Great Basin Gopher Snake.

snake sighting

Here is “my” snake. I walked out on my back patio and there he was!

garen snake

He was much more afraid of me than I was of him. As soon as I snapped the first photo, he slithered off into a garden area. Look closely, he’s there.

on the move

I continued to take his picture, turns out he was camera shy, so he slithered off toward the sunken kitchen…

snake under planter

Finally, he found a safe and shady spot where he could escape the paparazzi, under one of the succulent planters on the other side of the kitchen.

I learned through the Arizona Herpetological Association website that this snake eats insects, gophers, mice, etc.

He’s my new favorite yard accessory. I shall name you, Slytherin. Live long and prosper snake friend!


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3 comments

1 Marissa { 07.03.13 at 8:45 AM }

He’s cute! Now I want one again. I played with a snake at a party a couple weeks ago and I wanted one for a pet until Jeff sent me this http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/giant-snake-opening-a-door

2 Sloane { 07.03.13 at 11:14 AM }

I never see any snakes either!

3 Sydney { 07.04.13 at 7:14 AM }

When my 32 year old daughter was only 2 I opened my dishwasher and discovered a snake at the bottom. I was new to Az and didn’t know if it was poisonous. I quickly latched the dishwasher and called a repairman who believed I had a “plumber’s” snake in it. Of course the snake had exited the same way he had made his entrance. Turned out to be a harmless red racer.

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