Snake's alive!

Or I could have titled this post, "Right time, right place." 

Awhile ago, I took a break from working at my desk and went outside to empty a rain bucket. As I was strolling past the Copper Canyon daisy, I happened to glance down and see.....

 ...A SNAKE! A beautiful checkered gartersnake (Thamnophis marcianus). Thank goodness, I happened to have my phone with me (yes, I've gotten lazy about not using my big 35mm) so I snapped a photo or two. The snake didn't seem afraid of me. In fact, he/she seemed preoccupied. Then I realized something was wiggling under the leaf debris not far from the snake. So I plopped down on the ground and waited. Now and then I could see the snake open its mouth. Hmmm....

As soon as I realized the critter under the leaves was an earthworm, the snake started pulling and gulping it down. Quick, a video, Sheryl! But I was too late. Instead, I snapped off a bunch of photos. At least from these photos you can get the gist of what I got to see. 

Just because I happened to be in the right place at the right time.