Afternoon snake break

Don't mess with me, folks!

Awhile ago, the front door bell rang madly several times. I ran to see who was there. "GET YOUR CAMERA!" James hollered (he'd already dashed back out to the front yard). Which I did as fast as I could. Look what he found while mowing! A rat snake had ambled across the street from an undeveloped (wonderful) tract of property. 

This guy did NOT like being handled.

"You're not choking him, are you?" I asked James. He assured me that he was not. Well, I'm sure I wouldn't like being held by the neck either!

I followed him through the cedar sage and irises. See his tongue?

Enough's enough. He decided to leave.

He headed up the live oak. Rat snakes are expert climbers.

He went UP.

I asked James to stand there for some perspective on height (I had on my macro lens and couldn't shoot a full image). This live oak is huge and old.

He had to be 20 or so feet up.

Then he slithered along a horizontal limb.

He found a hole in the limb....

...and went inside....

....length by length...

...until just a tip showed. Finally, the rat snake completely vanished! "Hope there wasn't anyone in there sleeping," I said. Ah, nature!