"Coily"

For the past 2 days I have gone home and found a new friend hanging around the house. I have nicknamed him/her "Coily" (as in the nemesis of "Q-Bert" in the old video game). "My" Coily is a Black Rat Snake about 3 feet long (luckily I have a 4 foot dowel).

Yesterday Coily was climbing on my picnic table in the back yard. Today Coily was in a concrete Grecian Urn flower pot in the front. Same coily because I noticed some muddy looking scrape marks on the skin. While watching Coily move toward a bush I got to witness an interesting scene. A little bird (I don't know...a "thrush" maybe?) flew into the bush and started squawking nonstop. I don't know if that was to scare Coily off or to warn other birds of Coily's presence. After a couple of minutes, Coily slithered off, unfazed.

I'm not a fan of snakes, but I know that Coily is a good one to have around. I'm not going to bother him/her and I hope that he becomes used to my presence.