Saw our first 'Kill a Fellow'

"Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, won't hurt Jack."

This past spring we saw a King snake (A.K.A. Milk snake) at our local library at home in Iowa (we are in Texas right now). It was there being shown in a children's program with some other creatures. The boys were able to touch it and listen to some facts about it such as it being mistaken for a coral snake which is highly venomous. This mimicry (known as Batesian mimicry) likely scares away potential predators.

<<===Red on yellow, kill a fellow...coral snake. See how much it looks like the King Snake above?

Today we decided to feed carrots to our horse friend down the wooded trail. Of course, I left the camera at home thinking it was too cold here today to see anything interesting. It is in the low 50s here today. I was wrong! First Holden (6) who has very keen, observing eyes found a frog hibernating in some leaves. Also, I saw some red-bellied woodpeckers. We have been seeing lots of those here because they are the most common type in the southeast part of the U.S.

Our most exciting find was on our way home! Holden almost stepped on a coral snake hiding in some leaves on the left side of the trail. Because they look similar we weren't sure if it was a coral snake or a king snake. When we got back to my sister's house we looked it up on the internet and found the cool photos and I was reminded of the rhyme I have heard many times over my life. This was a really cool find because I have never seen a coral snake or a king snake in the wild and I doubt we'll ever forget it! My boys love all things nature, including snakes. They like holding snakes and I am one who enjoys watching snakes slither far away from me.

By the way, we ended up returning our GPS device we purchased this past fall. I needed new glasses badly and used the money for those instead. For the most part, I loved going caching, so it will be something I can do when the kids get a little older. I was really disappointed at a few of our outings. Part of it was due to some inadequate caches we were hunting and partly due to going with a child who is too young to enjoy being out in Midwest cold and windy weather.

Holden is waiting for the computer, so I better go now. Peace to all!