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Monday, October 10, 2005

I've mentioned that I have the world's worst mailman, right? I was not, in fact, just whistling a tune resembling "Dixie". This is what I saw when I checked mail this weekend.
Attachment A
Notice all the room around the balls of mail. Imagine how flat and lovely that pile could have been, had he not taken to making snowballs from my mail.
Attachment B

Now try to imagine what picture is on this postcard I received. (This may or may not have been his fault, I will fully admit. The rest of the postcard is glued on the back of one of my bills, so it could be Sprint's fault)
Attachment D

Once I unfolded most of my mail, my mother came over to help me plant bulbs (this also involved moving an azalea, which looks very nice where it is now, and will hopefully flourish, but is not something I plan on undertaking again soon. Those puppies are heavy!) We put down some pachysandra and blue campanula as well, and some lovely fancy daffodil bulbs. We picked up this
100_0949
A baby snake, that both of us thought was a very large worm at first glance! He's very cute, and we took some great care in digging until we could catch him and move him out of the way of the shovels. If you look veeerrrry closely, you can see his little tongue sniffing us out!
100_0949

~~~

EDIT:
Don't think it was a copperhead (though I did insist, even animal whisperer that I am, that we hold it only with gloves on, just in case). Baby copperheads usually have a bright yellow tipped tail - and his tail is the same as the rest of him. He also didn't have the strong markings along the back that adult copperheads do (although I suppose it could be paler because he's so young) - more spotted than banded. This is a picture of a baby copperhead (note the dark bands & yellow tail)

See? Not likely a match...

16 Comments:

Blogger Shelia said...

Ya know, Amie, there are some of us out here that have a REALLY hard time ever thinking that a snake can be cute, in fact, I just don't believe it's possible. I know this is a character flaw in me, but I probably would have screamed, jumped back about 12 feet, and then sicced Oscar on the snake.

2:34 PM  
Blogger Teri S. said...

Very cute snake! I think it's a young garter snake and I hope, hope, hope it isn't a copperhead. My brothers used to catch black snakes (usually pregnant females), so I got used to handling snakes pretty quickly.

2:45 PM  
Blogger fillyjonk said...

It might be a rough earth snake. I can't quite tell from the pic but I have those hanging out in my garden & they're a similar color and size.

they don't hurt anything; they're too small (and yes, that's about full size for a Rough Earth Snake). They eat earthworms. They're cute little guys.

4:07 PM  
Blogger Stitchy McYarnpants said...

Cuuuuute! He's so tiny.

I think your mailman is bored with his job. What a weird thing to do to someone's mail. He actually had to go out of his way to make that mess. Does he always do that, or was that just a special treat?

4:33 PM  
Blogger Amie said...

That's an everyday thing! He also likes to knock-and-run, rather than waiting long enough for me to get to the door to get a package.

4:49 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I love that eensy-weensy snake! What a brave little creature he is, to take his chances in a world of giants. Though he might believe he is a Big Mean Snake, the way some tiny dogs believe they are Big Mean Dogs...

My mail looks like that, too, but it is because I only go to the PO once a week. The poor mailpeople have to keep realigning my mail so it won't explode out the back of the box!

5:20 PM  
Blogger Amie said...

She loves me best.

6:37 PM  
Blogger Peggy said...

What a sweetie!! The snake that is, not your bonehead mailman. My mailman is the opposite of knock and run - he rings and then immediately pounds (literally) on my door. And this usually happens while my kid is sleeping (though the timing isn't his fault).

10:17 PM  
Blogger emmy said...

That is bad about the mail and even WORSE about holding the snake! I could hardly watch!

You need to swing by and see me at http://Lakeknitter.blogspot.com You might be interested in my most recent post. I am pretty sure that you will be interested:)

1:17 AM  
Blogger Donna said...

Egads! I don't ever want to be that close to a snake gloves or no gloves and no matter how small. He'd have had to move along to someone else's yard if he'd been found in mine! I hate snakes that much.

10:15 AM  
Blogger Lanea said...

Oooh, huge warm snake love. Thanks for being nice to the whippersnapper. I hope he finds a nice warm home before it gets cold.

11:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you fill out a complaint form at your local post office, it *will* be seen.

11:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Our rule of thumb regarding snakes is if it's got a round head and a sharp tail is okay but if it's got a pointy head and a blunt tail it's gotta go (by dirt clod, which is M's first choice of dispatching a snake, or hoe). We have the occasional copperhead here which is immediately dispatched. We keep (encourage) a king snake to stay near the house and we have the occasional coach whip... which are the world's funniest snakes! So personable! There's a red belly living under the sheep waterer which I continually forget about until I upend the waterer and have to have the "omigod I just say a snake" mini-scream before remembering that he's always there!

2:15 PM  
Blogger Cathy said...

I believe that it is possible that your mailman and mine are VERY close relatives! When my mail won't fit crumpled into the box, it either gets set down on top (in the pouring rain usually) or hung in a bag by the handle! Ugh! As far as snakes go, my children think they are adorable - I cease to breathe when I see one - I actually dropped an entire cup of coffee on my foot after I realized that the tickle on that same foot had been a snake! I don't know that we have any poisonous snakes here, but I think you are very nice not to kill it... or drop a cup of hot coffee on it :(

9:00 PM  
Blogger Bess said...

Actually, Mother loves me best but we can let that one go. As for snakes, remember, they are your friend. They eat bad things that otherwise would take up residence in your kitchen. Yea! Snakes! Outside.

9:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did I ever tell you about the snake in my oven?
sallyjo
Okay, my "word today is "qlqgulf".
I'm going with, "drowning in quiviut".

4:30 PM  

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