Saturday, July 2, 2011

Scales on My Sleeve

A California mountain kingsnake in hand.
I found a California mountain kingsnake while checking the main springbox at the ranch.  As the rainy season ends, we've unclogged pipes, replaced filters and sealed a leaking water tank.  The spring slows down to a trickle in the summer, so its unnerving to start the dry season without a full water tank.  When we found a valve mistakenly closed in our water system, I started systematically checking all the essential parts.