Our Backyard Reptiles and Amphibians

This section will be for different animals that we find in our yard. At the moment I am not separating retiles from mammals since I only have a few. At sometime in the future I may divide them. Probably the most unusual visitors that we share the yard with are George and George Jr. That's the names we've given to the two black snakes that live under the house during the summer. George has been here for over 20 years and has grown from about 3 feet the first time I saw him to over 6 1/2 feet last summer. Unfortunately I haven't seen George this summer (2001) so I am worried that something has happened to him. Some summers I don't see him and always worry that he has died and the next summer he pops back up. Hopefully that is the case this time as well. The picture is of Jr. and I have seen him several times this summer. He seems to be doing well, but he's doesn't seem to be as comfortable around people as George is. I don't know at the times I have almost stepped on George while walking in the backyard. It does get the heart to beating! George will just lay there and look at you like "Well, do you see me now?" After a while he will slowly ease on off where ever he was going. If Jr. sees you he takes off for somewhere to hide.

The only other animals on the website now are the Eastern Painted Box Turtles. They usually hang around the backyard on the side next to the woods. This year, 2001, I haven't seen any of the larger ones, just the small ones. Ann saw one of the big ones earlier in the summer so they are still around. It has been very dry here for the last couple of summers and the grass that the turtles like to hide in has died back. I hope that when the drought finally breaks and things get back to normal the turtles will make more visits to the backyard.