RATTLER!

Here's a case in point -- the reason we bought the interim cheapy camera.

Our neighbor warned me. She said they had seen the first rattler of the season. When I stepped onto the kitchen porch about 5:00 this evening I heard the unmistakable rattle. I could see the snake in the grass -- beyond the cistern and to the right of the raspberry patch. I don't have a picture of its position, but let me assure you it was in the yard and close to the house, coiled and on guard. Most folks in these parts do not let rattlers live, but Mike has decided they play their part in the Great Rodent War. Still, they must be carefully removed from the yard. But first, I took pictures.

When we went for our walk this evening, I heard rattles in the very rustling of the grass and Nellie did a double-take on a section of exposed phone line. KW