There is not much new about black snakes climbing
trees. Or eating baby birds and their parents.
The neat thing about this incident is what happened
when my neighbor Brian was sitting on his upper deck.
He and his wife noticed the snake closing in on the bird
house in a oak tree about 20 feet away and about their level.
You could call it a bird's eye view. Beth, Brian's wife was in terror mode
as the family had watched the nest being built and eggs laid.
The inter action of the chicks and the adult birds fascinated them
and now it looked like shear danger.
Brian jumped to action. He got a extension ladder and went up the tree
to the bird house. He really didn't know what he was going to do
since the snake was already completely inside the box.
He told Beth he was going to knock the roof off the house but he
wasn't sure what he could do then.
Beth's quick thinking produced a pair of kitchen tongs and she tossed them
to Brian on the ladder.
The lid was off and Brian snagged the snake with the tongs and dropped
it to the ground with a baby bird in it's mouth.
The momma bird was still in the bird house and flew off.
Brian said it was a very big black snake. Could be the one that lives in my barn.
Please don't tell Beth that
Zuma