I like my rowdy, unkempt backyard. It’s quite the wildlife oasis. To be totally honest, the wildlife is bunnies, squirrels, crows, a couple of hawks, lots of black-capped chickadees. And, of course, snakes.
I don’t usually see the snakes because we have an agreement, the snakes and I. I make lots of noise when I come outside, and they skedaddle. They don’t startle me and, in return, they may eat all the yard mice they want. Win-win!
The snakes have also learned to avoid our chickens. Once you watch a buddy being swallowed whole by a miniature dino, you keep your distance.
That’s why I was surprised when I began to find headless snakes in the chicken yard.
That’s right. Headless, semi-gutted snakes liked you’d see in a PETA boycotted slasher movie. Over the course of four days, I found four headless, eviscerated snakes.
My first thought was “What the hell?” My second thought was, “Who is doing this?” I decided to investigate.
I interrogated the chickens first because I located the damning evidence in their yard. But those poor snakes seemed way too big to be swallowed whole by our hens. Also, there’s that “swallowed whole” deal. I’ve never seen a chicken tear apart a snake or a worm. But I’m not with them all day long, so maybe they do? They swore, however, it wasn’t them.
The second set of suspects were my dogs. They said no way was it them. They pointed out they can’t unlatch the gate into the chicken yard because they don’t have thumbs and are way too arthritic to jump over the small fence.
Next, I accused the bunnies. I’ve seen Watership Down and I know they are violent when needs be. They denied any knowledge of the crimes, as did the squirrels. Both groups were offended I asked.
I was sitting on the deck when a crow landed in the chicken yard. I asked her if she had killed the snakes and she replied, “Am I in trouble?” I told her of course not, she could still partake of the cracked corn whenever she wanted. She said, “Great, but I didn’t do it.” I asked if she knew who did. She flapped her wings once, then turned away to concentrate on snacking.
Today, a pretty gray kitty, one I’d not seen before, greeted me when I opened the door. It looked at me with huge innocent brown eyes. Nobody that cute would decapitate a fellow creature, would they?
My friend recently found the equivalent of a headless, eviscerated snake in one of her social media feeds. Her feed served her a very pretty post about inner peace. She went to the profile of the creator of the post. On that profile, there were some suggested books by another author. Not being familiar with this second author, my friend thought his books looked good and probably related to inner-peace, as that was the subject of the account she was looking at. She sent an email to our book club suggesting we get one of the books for our group. I surprised her when I sent back links showing his books were political. I said, way too strongly, no way would I participate because this author is, IMHO, a far-right-wing-nut-job. Others in the book club agreed and our friend was saved from supporting someone who doesn’t align with her values.
I wonder if the original creator that attracted my friend is even a real person. Right now, there’s a terrible, but very successful social media sales tactic that amounts to a classic bait and switch. An account (which may be AI generated) presents as sweetness and light to attract followers. But their real purpose is to recruit followers for those selling conspiracy theories and lies. Let it be a cautionary tale for all of us. Look carefully before you like, follow, and buy. Don’t take anyone’s word for anything on social media. Except mine. Wink. Wink.
Here are three things I have enjoyed this summer:
Going to the No Kings Rally on June 14 with my grandson, Caleb.
A pretty iris in our garden
Murderbot on Apple TV+. Comedy, action, and biting commentary on humanity.
Stay cool this summer, my friends. And hydrate!