Snakes, and Spiders, and Frogs, OH MY!

 I have been in this house for about six months.  Its the first house Dave or I have owned ourselves (we both had condos before we were married).  And that means its the first time we've ever had to do yard work.  Pulling weeds, mowing the lawn, trimming hedges, planting flowers, mulching...  honestly the job is never done :)

We aren't exactly good at it, but we try, try, try again.  David is allergic to fresh cut grass.  So every time he mows the lawn, he breaks out in hives and needs to shower immediately.   Lucky for me he doesn't trust me with the mower... so he compromises with his allergies by only mowing the front, or the back in a given day.

I have been pulling weeds like its a full time job.  Sad news for me... we live on a wooded lot that is overtaken by weeds behind the lawn.  And for some reason, even though I have no experience... I have HUGE plans for the landscaping once these weeds are out of my life.  I'm guessing its a 5 year project at the rate I am going.

But on to the real reason for the post...  the creatures.  We have more creepy, crawly things than necessary in our yard.  While pulling weeds with my mom, we were attacked by a garter snake.  And when I say attacked, what I mean is we saw one.

But I screamed like it was attacking.

It was vicious.  Much like this one.  AND it followed us around the house!  I saw it three times!  Or I saw three snakes.  But I'm hoping it was just one.  I tried to kill it with a shovel, but missed the first time, and then the second time apparently I wasn't strong enough because it just slithered away.  People tell me they are harmless.  And even worse... they tell me some day my children will capture them and want to keep them as pets.  Or play with them.  Or throw them up in trees (I know... that one is weird - came from Dave's cousin, Jordan.)

We also have toads.  I've seen close to 15 toads and a couple frogs.  And bugs, but who doesn't have bugs?   We also have holes.  At first I thought these were snake holes, and I panicked.  I had seen a snake, after all.  But these holes are about 2 inches wide.  Too big for my little snakes.  So after a quick google search, I realized they most likely belonged to chipmunks.

So my future children can have a blast with these creatures. They can chase things, throw them in trees, dig them out of their holes, and, if they are spiders, kill them.  But I will teach  my children from early on that there is no way these things will come in the house. As pets, as pranks, or even as science projects.  And if they do, they will hear a kind of scream that will wake neighbors and send birds flying from trees.  Because this girl... is NO fan of creepy, crawly things.