Photo: The head of a large Texas Indigo Snake ( (Drymarchon melanurus erebennus). After at least 50 years, I finally once again saw a Texas Indigo Snake (Drymarchon melanurus erebennus) on our farm. But first: A DISCLAIMER (well…maybe, you’ll have to read more to find out what is ... Read More
snakes
Still a Busy Rattlesnake Year
Photo of a young rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), the sixth we've found so far in 2019. It’s officially Fall, and on October 1st we caught our sixth Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) of 2019. The first rattlesnake this year was found March 27th, a month earlier than ever before. ... Read More
It’s Going to be a Busy Rattlesnake Year
Photo: a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) next to a chicken food bowl in our chicken yard. It’s still spring with calendar summer almost two months away, but here on the farm, 2019 has already seen its third rattlesnake, a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). The first ... Read More
Official Start of Summer on the Farm
Photo: A male Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our backyard. The sure-fire indicator of the beginning of summer on the farm happened March 27th this year. This was a full month earlier than last year. For comparison, read my blog from last year, ... Read More
Cold Weather Snake
Photo: A female Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri) on a cold early March day in South Texas. This afternoon our three dogs (German Shepherds Oso and Maya and rescue mutt Sunshine), Susie and I took a hike through our south pasture. This afternoon wasn’t a typical early March day. It ... Read More
South Texas Collecting Trip
Photo: A pair of mystery footprints in shallow water on the margins of a pond on a South Texas ranch. At the bottom is the shadow of the author's I-phone for scale. The first week of March this year I got a message from our nephew Darin Rokyta, an Associate Professor of the Department of ... Read More
Signs of Summer on the Farm
Photo above: The farm's first sign of summer, a rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our yard. We know the beginning of summer on the farm not by calendar, but by nature. The clearest sign of summer is snakes. Specifically, rattlesnakes and copperheads. The ... Read More
Roof Snake
As we continue our recovery from Hurricane Harvey, on a Sunday in late March 2018 I was on the roof finishing the removal of a large blue tarp that had been keeping our roof from leaking during rains. I had to remove and replace it because our insurance company required me to pull it up for ... Read More
Texas Weather – December 2017
Winter wonderland early morning December 8, 2017. Texas weather, especially winter weather, can be highly variable. This December illustrates that. Tuesday, December 5, 2017 It was a warm day. As Susie and I walked from the house to the greenhouses I almost stepped on a coral snake ... Read More
A Weird Short Ecotour Offer
Photo: A young copperhead in our yard. Photo by Carl Clapsaddle. For three years now I’ve been toying with offering an ecotourism venture at our farm during our copperhead season. This evening cinched the idea for me. Susie and I got home from our volunteer fire department meeting (yes, on ... Read More