Snakes!!

This has been an exciting week for discoveries on our hillside - more so for our gardener, Enrique. Yesterday, while cleaning our front flowerbed, he found this boa constrictor curled up and sleeping.

He said the snake would sleep during the day, awaken around sunset and be active at night. I had a better view of the snake from Don's office window. Sure enough, during sunset, the boa began to stretch and move around.

That's when I realized that he was shedding his old skin. See the difference from his head compared to the darker skin of his lower body?

He seemed to be fairly big. I kept waiting for him to stretch out fully and come out from under the plants, but the light was fading, and I was not able to see him in his full glory.

Merlin came by and was horrified, wanting to know why we didn't have Enrique kill Mr. Boa. We rather like him - as long as he stays outside!

The day before, as Enrique was trimming and cleaning around the ficus trees up our hill, he had even more excitement when he encountered a coral snake - very poisonous. It's a wonder he didn't fall down the hill and slide into the ravine during that discovery; he was standing on a very steep section of the hill and was very startled. Now, he said it was a coral snake, and perhaps it was, but there is also a false coral snake with the same colorful stripes, only the pattern is slightly different. I'm sure he didn't pause to consider the pattern! Don and Lance also saw a coral, or false coral, snake one night while walking down the road on our hill after parking the car. We've also seen tarantulas on our road after dark. That's why we always carry a flashlight at night - never know what you might step on.

Early in the week, while Enrique was trimming the banana trees at the top of our hill along our property line, our neighbor's mom, who has Alzheimer's, wandered out through their gate and fell again. Enrique found her and ran to get help. Sadly, she may have broken her hip this time. It's a good thing that Enrique was there to assist her.

So Enrique has had quite enough excitement for one week. Now, if he can keep from getting blown off the hill today during our 40 mph gusts, he can have a day off for some much needed rest.