SNAKE!!!

It's been a little too hectic to write much and just when you think things may relax...

  So, Punkin is cleaning out this huge cage that her BF's mom found for the girls - who have a little quail project going on. Handsome and I carried the huge, heavy thing home and put it by the bunny cages.
  And apparently right on top of a small snake. In blissful ignorance, we wandered off.

  Today, one of her chores was to scrub the cage out. She was doing a pretty good job, tipped it over to get another side ... and ran screaming into the house "SNAKE!!!!"
  Now, Handsome just kills snakes. I object because they are pretty useful critters, so I went out to see it. And there it lay, small; barely a foot long, fat and mottled in autumn shades. Awww, I thought, Poor little hognose, it's dead. Then I thought, That's an awfully orange hognose, you don't usually see them so bright.
Then I thought, Gee, it's head is kind of pointy.

By this time Handsome came out and I asked him "Do you think that's a copperhead?"
When he said "Yup" before looking at it I remembered that I was asking the wrong person. So I crouched by it and said "Are you sure it's not a hognose?" I moved it with a stick.
Finally looking at it he said "I dunno. Gee, it's head is kind of pointy."

I was 99% sure it was dead, but that isn't sure enough to grab it by the head for a closer look, 'cause I was getting a bad vibe. I flipped it onto it's back and said if it was still like that in a little bit I'd know it was 100% dead and we'd check then.

Displaying vast courage (if small sense) Handsome said, "I don't want to take the chance" grabbed it up by the back of the head and with his thumb pulled back the lower jaw - displaying a nice set of fangs.

Juvie copperhead.

Definitely.

Since he already had it, Handsome took it to the garden, where all small bodies are disposed of, and Punkin went with him for a snake burial while I brought little Spud inside. I was idly wondering where the camera was so I could take some pictures of it for reference before they buried it when Punkin came dashing back inside followed shortly by Handsome, breathing hard.

It seems he put the snake down to dig a hole, whereupon it slowly turned itself onto it's belly, having begun to recover from being stuck under a cage and near drowned in cold, soapy water.
At that point Handsome went a little overboard with a pick ax and the shovel, so I have no pictures for you.

It is these little things that keep my day so busy.
I wonder if I'll get more quail eggs now?