- Jun 11, 2014
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Our neighborhood was developed in the '60s and pretty well maintained. Directly across the street we see a 100' wide drainage easment that is probably 1800 feet long with homes that back up to it the full length. It is lightly wooded with pretty mature oak and pine and most of the neighbors keep parts of it beaten back and some mow. It's not unattractive and it's home to owls, woodpeckers, lizards and frogs among other things. Apparently most of the water buffalo and other furry animals have moved on with exception of the squirrels.
The previous next door neighbor kept a red tailed hawk in an aviary he built in the back yard and when he moved released it in the neighborhood. For the next year or so it roosted in a tall pine tree in the other neighbors back yard. I think it may have found a mate because occasionally I would see a pair circling very high over the neighborhood although have not seen them this year.
This little woodland is also home to many different species of snakes and they find their way into the yard probably in search of the 10 million lizards. Snakes are ok as long as they're not poisonous. In the 11 years I have lived here I have only found 1 copperhead which I relocated. I have opened the pool skimmer and found a small black snake, have seen several pine snakes maybe 3 feet long which at first glance look somewhat like a rattlesnake. For several years we had a 6 foot long indigo snake, really shiny irridescent black that we named Elvis that would sun or travel through the back yard. The indigo is the longest snake in North America and can grow to 9'. They also eat other snakes including those that are poisonous. We haven't seen Elvis now for a couple of years, hopefully one of the neighbors didn't kill him.
Anyway, the past two weeks I have seen a rather large garter maybe 2 1/2' long and something I had never seen before which although looks like a snake, it's a glass lizard. It was kind of robust for what I at first thought was a snake and probably 18"long. Apparently there are two types here in Florida. The snake if handled roughly will break apart in order to escape leaving the larger portion of it's body wriggling as bait.
The images are from this article. Life is short, but snakes are long: Lizards of glass
The previous next door neighbor kept a red tailed hawk in an aviary he built in the back yard and when he moved released it in the neighborhood. For the next year or so it roosted in a tall pine tree in the other neighbors back yard. I think it may have found a mate because occasionally I would see a pair circling very high over the neighborhood although have not seen them this year.
This little woodland is also home to many different species of snakes and they find their way into the yard probably in search of the 10 million lizards. Snakes are ok as long as they're not poisonous. In the 11 years I have lived here I have only found 1 copperhead which I relocated. I have opened the pool skimmer and found a small black snake, have seen several pine snakes maybe 3 feet long which at first glance look somewhat like a rattlesnake. For several years we had a 6 foot long indigo snake, really shiny irridescent black that we named Elvis that would sun or travel through the back yard. The indigo is the longest snake in North America and can grow to 9'. They also eat other snakes including those that are poisonous. We haven't seen Elvis now for a couple of years, hopefully one of the neighbors didn't kill him.
Anyway, the past two weeks I have seen a rather large garter maybe 2 1/2' long and something I had never seen before which although looks like a snake, it's a glass lizard. It was kind of robust for what I at first thought was a snake and probably 18"long. Apparently there are two types here in Florida. The snake if handled roughly will break apart in order to escape leaving the larger portion of it's body wriggling as bait.
The images are from this article. Life is short, but snakes are long: Lizards of glass
