Solly's Nighttime Adventure
Last edited Wed Jun 6, 2012, 03:37 PM - Edit history (1)
I move around every few years or so and in every new place I create a keepsake of some sort. For my time in Louisiana I decided to do a photo collection of birds and insects in my area and across the state.
Tonight I was out front to try and capture a Hawk Moth feeding.
This is my front walk. Hawk Moths love Petunias and Verbena.
Hawk Moths look somewhat Hummingbirdish while they buzz about flowers at night. There actually is a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. I'd LOVE to get a photo of one.
So I'm outside waiting and wanting the moth to hurry and make an appearance. The night is warm and the moon is slow dancing in and out of the clouds. The dark is making its usual noises and I look about, hoping that no one spies me outside in my PJ's, with a camera in my hand.
I hear the buzz and rapid wing noise that tells me the moth has finally come.
The moth is all over the place and I just can't keep up. So I snap and I snap. Hoping with each push of the button and never quite getting the shot I want.
The moth vanishes. Just poofs. Gone. Just like that. I look around.
Hmm. What's that?
Snap.
Whoa.
I like snakes but I like them best in the woods and not at my house. Besides, I can't have him eating my photography projects. The wall above my front walk is usually covered in geckos. Not tonight. The anoles sun there during the day and I'm real fond of those anoles.
I run inside and wake my husband and tell him to call someone to pick up the snake. Snakes are removed from the housing areas and let loose in the woods just outside the gate. (military post)
I hurry back outside to snap a few shots before the snake goes to his new home.
I move around to the side. Well, just look at that! All comfy and snug.
He's on the move.
He's now on the back ledge of my 'shabby chic' lawn chair. He's about 30 inches long and not very big around - except for a slightly noticeable bulge a little ways down his body.
ETA: The snake is a Texas Rat Snake. A constrictor that is often kept as a pet. It eats rats, of course. As well as insects, frogs, lizards, and birds. They grow up to 6 feet and live about 20 years.
Three nice gentlemen arrive. They carefully capture the snake - avoiding any injury to the animal. The snake was placed in a cardboard container for transport. The guy holding the flashlight told me about the "baby" rattlesnake they picked up the night before in another housing area.
I believe my nightime adventures have come to an end. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
I usually pick the dead blooms off every morning, just reaching my hand in and around my flowers without a care in the world. Not so much this morning. I checked first and then kept checking as I went from flower pot to flower bed, making a wide angle approach.
Lots of venomous snakes here. I take precautions when out walking but just never thought to see one resting in my flower pot. Silly me.
The wall behind the snake gets hot during the day and radiates heat well into the night. Between the lizards and insects it is an ideal spot for a snake.
I think that snake was someone's pet that escaped out of their house (or they let them go).
I'll make more tries for the moth. I really want him for my collection.
I should have had a clue - my male anole has been scarce lately (I saw him last 2 days ago) and the female has been hanging out out back full time. 
I love those anoles.
THANKS!
and what wonderful photos! Thanks for taking us along on your journey.
The snake would have shook me up a little too! No such critters in my neck of the woods - thank gawd! 
Looking forward to more moth photos!
It is not the same one, of course. I'm fairly certain the snake ate that moth. Still going to keep trying. I want a really good side shot of the critter.
Last night an armadillo was grazing in my impatiens. I saw something behind the shrub and then this came out of the flower bed. Got a blech shot of him. He turned and quickly trampled back through my flowers. At least it wasn't a snake.
shot is pretty darned nice!
And you have the craziest things in your yard. Now an armadillo! What next!
