NOOOOOO ..... Not Again!!!

After this one, I'm about DONE with the critters.  There are two things I DO NOT like about the desert.  You already know one of them is scorpions.  By the way, let me tell you a little tale that will curl your toes.

My neighbor just down the road, slid into her bed not long ago and came out screaming.  Yessirree, she was stung by a scorpion IN HER BED.  They rushed her to the ER where she was treated and sent home.  Now I'm freaking out, ripping the sheets off my bed every single night before I lay down.  True story!!

So last night, I noticed right at dark as I let the puppies out, there were two deer at the water station.  Pictures tomorrow ... so I stood outside and watched.  They drank a long time, so I walked over to the irrigation system to refill the tank.  Let me just say I'm barefoot.

I completely and totally FREAKED OUT when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move.  OMG OMG IT'S A SNAKE!!!!!  I literally RAN back to the concrete patio and through the house to the garage for a shovel.  I know, you should not kill them, but this is MY back yard.

Of course by the time I returned with a flashlight, it had disappeared.  I looked all around until I saw the tiny thin tail of a NON-venoumous creature.  Oh ... it must be a gopher snake.  I suppose they are good, but really, there's nothing in my yard they would eat.  I left him alone and went back inside.

I didn't stay long.  I just couldn't stand that there was a SNAKE in my back yard.  I'm petrified of them.  As a kid I had nightmares every single night of hundreds of snakes crawling all over my bed.  I can remember every one of them to this day.

Back outside, I took this picture to try and I.D. it for sure.  I posted it on Facebook.  Well that made my predicament even worse!!  It is another Sonoran Lyre snake, rare they said.  Gosh, how lucky can I be because now that's TWO I've found in my back yard.

 What to do, what to do.  I finally decided to chase it off with the water hose, a Patty suggestion.  Well you know what happened ... it completely disappeared.  No sign of it anywhere.  They are not exactly poisonous, won't kill a human, but they might have enough venom to kill my dogs.  Obviously I will be out with the garden hose this morning trying to locate the darn thing and convince it to leave my back yard.  It's only an inch across it's back and maybe three feet long.

 

 

I seriously don't need this stress in my life.  Leaving soon for Colorado is MORE than stressful enough since I got the warning of SNOW!!!  Yup ... the Nature Gods are attacking me from all sides.  If that continues, I will be canceling the trip.  I am NOT driving my rig in the snow.

 

This video made me feel a little better.   These guys are just so elegant looking.  I wish they ate snakes!!

His coloring is so light.  In contrast, here's one from across the valley with much more tigerish markings.

The very boring end to my very exciting day was some pork chops I tried to cook in my Instant Pot. 

Patsy  seems to be able to make these taste delicious.  Me, not so much.  I did make a gravy that came out better than the chops.  Ugh ... three more meals of this.  I wonder if Lyre snakes like pork?

I'll get back to the Vintage Faire tomorrow when I calm down from my snake wrangling.