Sharpy Wins

Forest sharp-tailed snake showing its ladder-striped underside, sharp-spined tail,  orangish lateral stripe, blunt nose and overall small size.

The sharp-tailed snake squeezed ahead as the favorite choice for the label on the 2013 Dipper Ranch walnuts.  All-in-all, it was a great choice.  Who knows when I will see another sharp-tailed snake on the Dipper Ranch? And it was exciting to document it as the forest sharp-tailed snake species. I was pushing to pick a rattlesnake in the superstitious belief that maybe if a rattlesnake was finally on the label, no rattlesnakes would show up at the farmhouse next year.  Hah!

Snake video follows.


California Jean was the person randomly selected to win the batch of 2013 shelled walnuts. Jean and her boyfriend once helped me capture a rattlesnake admiring art at the corner of the Dipper Ranch barn. The event included a small amount of fear, squealing, tacky clothes (on my part and that's why you'll never seen that video) and triumph. Whew, that's a good friend.

Here is the video of two snakes that suddenly showed up on a hot 2013 summer day behind the Dipper Ranch farmhouse after I watered some overhanging plants. As soon as the water  dripped out of the pots onto the concrete pad, the snakes appeared out of nowhere. Just a reminder that snakes are living their lives in suitable habitat - cracks in the ground, gopher holes, downed logs, rock crevices, etc. - maybe right under our feet, even if we don't see them.