Two never-seen-before-on-our-property critters appeared this week. A few days ago, Glen was walking near the totem pole entrance, and came upon a California Mountain King Snake. He ran back to the house to get me and his camera. Alas, when we returned, the snake had left.
In the 12 or so years that we've lived here, any snake sighting is a rare event. We saw a small garden snake during our first year here and also discovered a very large snake skin that had been shed. A few years ago, we had a small garden snake who like to hang out in the pond, with head just about the water line, presumably to eat tadpoles. So this king snake was a real treat.
Today, while I was sitting on the porch, I saw a chipmunk. Glen verified that I was not hallucinating. We have lots of black squirrels and gray squirrels, but have never seen a chipmunk here. I didn't realize they lived here in the mountains. Until the chipmunk in the state and national parks that get fed by tourists, this chipmunk was slender. Let's hope that there are at least a few so that their population increases. Both images are from the web, as we were unable to snap a photo.
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