V is for Visitor

The Starrs have had quite the reptilian summer thus far. Earlier, on a weekend at the lake, we awoke to find a Northern Water Snake munching on a fish along the shore. After corralling the water dogs so they weren't bitten by the water snake, we realized that there was not one, but two snakes and they had apparently created a homestead under a rock on the beach. Viva la Ozarks!



Continuing the Summer of the Snake theme, Mark and I got up early today, loaded up our bikes, and headed to Shawnee Mission Park for a long morning ride. We wanted to try and "scale" a giant hill out there. (Get it, scale?) Along one of the trails, we came across a snake that was approximately 2-2.5 feet long winding itself across the path. I got a close look as I rode past to look it up when I got home. Fantastic! Turns out, it's a Northern Copperhead. Excellent! Glad we didn't have the water dog out there today for this chance encounter.



And to add some anticlimactic icing to our reptilian cake, I also saw a common garter snake today. Snore.



-KS