Rattler!!!

Yesterday, Alan told me he’d found two rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the deck. He said he’d found one on the BBQ deck. He’d opened the sliding door to go outside to play with the dogs and he’d just simply walked by it. He noticed it, though, when he was going to go back inside. It was already in striking position with its head cocked and it was rattling (I guess that’s why he noticed it). He got his tongs out and picked it up and put it in a bucket. He ended up relocating it onto the other side of the mountain on property that’s seldom used.

After he got back home, he noticed a puffed up gecko out by the pool and thought it looked a bit odd (being puffed up and everything). He looked around and found ANOTHER rattlesnake sunning itself on the deck outside my apartment!!!! He just put this one in a bucket. He said he would relocate it today.

Today, I realized I have tics, earwigs, mice, geckos, skunks, coyotes, deer, and now rattlesnakes in my new environment. Essentially though, I live in the middle of a field. I’m intruding on an established habitat. I shouldn’t be offended when I find an earwig or two crawling around. I shouldn’t be offended when I find a mouse in my garbage. I shouldn’t be offended when I find a gecko under the desk. And, for the most part, I’m not. Not really. I’m not a fan of tics, but I think if I keep out of the long grass, I should be OK.

Rattlesnakes though. RATTLESNAKES! How do I keep out of their path? And what if one gets in the house? I think I might get a bit paranoid now. I’m going to be checking my bed each night before I get in–just in case a snake or some nasty creature that I have absolutely no desire to share my personal space with–has crawled in and taken over.