Apparently, big black rat snakes aren’t everyone’s favorite creatures. Hence, the above photo of adorable puppies.
They’re not my puppies, mind you, as I have no puppies, nor even a dog.
It’s simply a way to put something on this blog so that yesterday’s image of a large black rat snake – which I personally found fascinating – would no longer be the first thing folks saw when they clicked on this site.
I sensed a tiny bit of negativity toward snakes after posting the image of a five-foot reptile (see comments in yesterday’s post) that I caught in Newberry County, SC.
Or perhaps it was Mrs. Cotton Boll’s reaction, via email: “You are nuts! I hope you put that yellow jacket and all clothing directly in the washing machine. This freaked me out!”
Of course, I had failed to inform Mrs. Cotton Boll of my success in the snake-catching department the previous day, knowing that she is deathly afraid of our no-legged friends.
She is a regular reader of this blog, but I had failed to anticipate her response to a seeing a large constricting snake, particularly one wrapped around her husband’s wrist and hand.
Needless to say, a Hazmat team was dispatched to decontaminate all clothing that may have come into contact with said black rat snake, and I was politely but firmly admonished.
Actually, Mrs. Cotton Boll is a pretty good sport, given my proclivity for capturing odd wild beasts and her distaste of same. Of course, she did know what she was getting herself into when she said “I do.”
The Cotton Boll Conspiracy 
I’m feeling much more at ease here today. That snake was just so stand-offish, skulking about like a slippery fish with his tongue flicking about. It’s indecent. The misses is brilliant, by the way. Listen to the lady.
Yes, she knows her stuff. I am slowly but surely wising up. Thanks for stopping by.
and thanks for this, whew!
Yup, I saw the snake yesterday. This will take the edge off. Can they be any cuter?
Nope. It makes for a nice transition.