Critters... critters everywhere!

Arkansas truly is the "Natural State" and never more is it so apparent than Spring.  The flowers bloom, everything turns yellow from pollen, and every manner of critter wants to get out and about.

We had our fair share of critters the last time we lived in Arkansas as our subdivision was on the edge of cow pasture (though now our formerly semi-rural small town of Centerton that we lived in has been swallowed up by Bentonville).

Now we live much more rural in the Boston Mountains region of the Ozarks on acreage so the level of critters rivals that of what I encountered as a child living in the woods outside of Steelville, MO.

So yeah, we're definitely a bit more crittered.  So much so that yesterday when returning home, I unlocked the door, and noticed some movement.  I then came to realize a Western Rat Snake had decided to borrow my hiking poles...

A little bit later while heading out to the shop, the following Prairie Kingsnake was encountered...

The first snake encounter this year was the six foot Western Rat Snake found basking on the back porch railing...

Of course it's not all slithering snakes though.  We encountered a Three-Toed Box Turtle the other day, have a family of Cotton-Tails out near the garden, and have seen White-Tail Deer roaming around.  There was also a fox of some sort caught on the game cam but I'm pretty sure the dogs now keep him at bay.

I guess the lesson to be learned is that when one chooses to make a home among nature, you must live with all of nature.  That said... first time I feel threatened by a Copperhead or Cottonmouth, it's a hat band.