snake eggs

August 16, 2020

Today, I decided to transplant a couple of yuccas. It’s been so moist and rainy the last couple of days, I figured it was a good time. And not too humid.

You’re probably wondering, what do snake eggs have to do with anything? Keep reading and you will find out… 🙂

It didn’t take long to dig up the grass… I didn’t dig up the whole area, just the length of one of the poles. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but there are two poles there. They are old telephone poles my dad had used for the dog pen. We cut them off close to ground level, they were in the way. They make a good edging or divider for the garden.

I’ve got two or three poles left. I plan on putting one at the top of the walk way…you’ll see when I get around to it.

These two Yuccas came from the area in the photo below. The big one in the photo above got top heavy and was pretty much out of the ground. I left it as it was for a while – maybe a week or two – before pulling it up. I wasn’t sure where to put it, so the best thing was just to leave it alone for a while.

Pulling it up is exactly what I did. Didn’t take much, neither did pulling up the smaller one which looks dead. I didn’t notice it until I pulled the big one up. I’m pretty sure it’s still green enough to survive.

A light tug and they were both up.

They’ve actually both been propped up against the tree for about a week.

I really hope these Yucca plants don’t die…

Last summer I planted a Yucca in the area where the river stone are in the photo above. As you can tell, it died. I’m not sure why, as they are pretty hardy plants. But according to smartgardenguide.com, “the most common problems are overwatering, insufficient light, temperature stress, fertilizer problems, transplant stress, pests or disease.” My plant probably got too wet or was just stressed from transplanting… I’m guess it was just too wet. As I wasn’t able to level the ground out like I did for these new transplants, water was able to pool around the plant.

Oh well, it is what it is.

It wasn’t a big loss, as they were babies from one of my other Yucca plants.

We went to get some mulch to put around the yucca, and found these these beauties.

Snake eggs…

There’s about a half dozen there, most of which are still buried. I handed one of them to my boyfriend, so he could see it. Of course, he squeezed it and out popped a baby snake…poor thing.

The snake that popped out of the egg my boyfriend squished, looked like a huge worm. I’m sure they are black snake, or black rat snake, eggs. I’ve never seen any copperheads or rattlesnakes around here.

so here are some facts…

• a group of snake eggs are called a clutch
• take 58 to 62 days to hatch, and may remain in the egg for a few days to soak up the nutrients
• females may lay as many as two clutches a year
• mating season is in the spring, about 5 weeks after mating, the female will lay her eggs, hatching after about two months (so we may be seeing babies here soon, if the conditions are right)
• baby black snakes are about 13 inches long when they hatch

Copperhead and rattle snakes give live birth. Snakes and other animals that carry their eggs inside their bodies are called ovoviviparous. Some other examples of ovoviviparous animals are sharks, rays, some types of fish and insects.

I’m not completely sure if these eggs will hatch. As it is August, who knows. I’ll have to keep an eye out and see if I notice anything.

We weren’t able to put any mulch around the yucca, due to all the ants. There must’ve been thousands of them. The mulch has been there so long…can’t really do anything with it. I was hoping, but the only thing we can do with it is spread it out – once the snake eggs hatch, if they hatch – and let it return to the earth. I’d rather put river rock around the plants anyway. Much easier to deal with than mulch!

I’m showing this image – again – so I can describe what my plan is, without you having to go back. So, at the edge of the river rock, near the top of the photo I plan on putting another log. Sunk deeper into the ground so as not to be a hazard. I hope! There is so much rock there that I may have to move it, change my plans. I’ll figure it out when I get to it.

The whole area is going to be filled in with river rock and brick. Some areas are going to be deep, to make a trench. This will hopefully keep the water from pooling at the bottom of the steps and allow the water to run off towards the poles that are there and down the hill.

And that’s about all I have for now!
Hope you have a great day!
Thanks for stopping by!!

take care
stay safe
much love