*That we know of, that is.
This is a Western Sharp-tailed snake. It is endemic to the West from the Central Coast of California up through the Pacific Northwest. I found it under one of the bricks I use as vegetable markers. It’s about the size of a golf ball, all curled up like that, but these snakes only reach about a foot in length, so they are naturally small. It tends to like wetter areas in the garden, and guess what they eat? Slugs and slug eggs! This is so amazing. I could not have asked for a better first snake sighting. Yes, I’d like something to eat rats, and this snake won’t take care of that, but I sure do have plenty of slugs. I hope there are lots of these little snakes all over the garden!
Today was a great day. The sun shone! It was in the 60’s! I spent half the day doing classwork and half the day in the garden, which felt close to normal. Drunk on sunshine, I threw caution to the wind and planted out all my peppers. I have three 4x4 beds full of hot, sweet, and paprika peppers. The soil felt warm, the nights will be warm for the next ten days at least, and I think we are out of danger of frost. Normally our last average frost date is February 15, but we didn’t really have winter until March! And even as late as last night, it was quite chilly with snow down to 3000 ft. But tonight it all changes, and I’m hopeful that spring is well under way, now.
My mood is just so different on days like this, when I have some purpose to shape my activities. We are feeling very hopeful here in California that our curve is somewhat diminished; our governor was very quick to make social distancing recommendations very early in March, and we’re seeing some signs that that was a good decision. The battle is not won, however, and we also watch the news coming out of NY and Louisiana with heavy hearts. It was good to forget about the virus for a few hours. I hope you are able to do the same.