by Pauline Tom
A coral snake is slithering loose! Barbara Coldwell, a Mountain City Original, reported that after all these years on Pecan Drive she recently saw her first coral snake speeding across her front lawn. Many coral snakes and rattlesnakes exist in and around Mountain City. With the recent mowing of acreage near here, be especially careful.
At bare minimum, when yardworking with hands, stomp and stir up the vicinity with a stick and wear garden gloves. Snakes avoid humans unless threatened. A coral snake has a small mouth.
Salli Wilson recently stepped on a “bull snake” in her backyard on Maple in the dark (going outside to get a better cell phone signal) and temporarily stopped its movement. It bit her, and it hurt; but, it did not harm her. She let it go, and it’s a good thing. The very night she relayed her story, I came home to find a photo (true, I promise) of a “bull snake” devouring a rattlesnake.
Many videos and photos exist online of bull snakes eating rattlesnakes. Some people mistake a bull snake for a rattler because they quickly vibrate their tail, which makes a rattling sound in dry grass.
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We never know what to expect when KissMe incessantly yips his alarm bark. Sunday, in the back corner, RonTom eventually noticed a long, pinkish-white naked tail sticking through cedar privacy-fence slats. Slats snagged the opossum by tail and hand. Ron managed to free the varmint, which played opossum on the Koehn’s side of the fence. Ron checked on the opposum on Monday and found it gone.
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Oh! What beauty this August with the magnificent towering esperanzas. After the refreshing July rain, the “yellow bells” bloomed and grew to new heights of glory. Tecoma stans is a Texas Super Star. In the wild in Texas, find it growing on rocky slopes. In Mountain City, just drive down the streets. The Aggie horticulture website claims it grows to three to six feet. Make that a double this summer.
Guess what natives of Mexico made from the roots? A beer. And, according to the Texas Native Plant database, Indians made bows from its wood and it has been used for a variety of medicines.
One thing for sure, the sight of the bright flowers (whose name translates into “hope”) does the heart good like a medicine.
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Eastern Bluebirds are well-known for conjuring up feelings of hope in humans. Recently, young siblings have splashed in my birdbaths. They look odd, as their juvenile plumage is spotted, with flecks of their adult red, white and blue showing through.
It is especially important now to refresh birdbaths as a preventative measure against mosquito growth. Have you sleuthed out all possible standing water, including gutters, old planters and the runoff condensate from the air conditioning unit?
www.mountaincitytx.com is a good spot to keep up on matters important to Mountain Cityians. And, it’s getting better. Now, the website server will be used to deliver email messages to those who want to be in the know. Register as a user on the website; and, unless you unsubscribe, the City will send notifications.
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“Montage” serves as a conduit to spread tidbits that relate in one way or another to Mountain City. Simply email [email protected] or phone 512-268-5678.
