Land snakes!

[captpackrat]

I saw two snakes today.  The first was tiny, roughly the size as the earthworm I saw a couple weeks back.  It got away before I could get my camera out.  The second one disappeared into the grass, but after some sniffing around by my roommate's dog, it reappeared.  I managed to take a few shots.  The dog kept trying to get close to sniff the snake, and the snake kept trying to bite.  The snake seemed totally uninterested in me.

EDIT:  This is apparently a garter snake.



I keep seeing these ROW markers along the highways in Nebraska.  I'm not sure what they stand for.   My SO thinks it stands for Right Of Way, but I see them in weird places, like this one, which is just inside the entrance to a cemetery.  Some are between businesses along the highway in Springfield, yet others are along the edges of farmer's fields.  Some are less than 100 feet apart, others are 1/2 mile or more, and sometimes there is one right in front of another.



Speaking of cemeteries, I took this picture inside Glendale Cemetery after pulling in to snap a photo of the ROW marker.  Since I couldn't turn around or back out easily, I just drove slowly through the rest of the cemetery.  I was surprised at just how old some of the markers were.  There was at least one from the 1880's, though there may be older headstones.  Most of them are in remarkably good shape for their age.



Dandelion puffs are popping up all over the lawn now.  They're remarkably pretty up close.



These weeds are also popping up on the lawn.  I don't know what it's called, but it sure looks nasty and spikey.

Comments

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The bottom one is a thistle. There are a dozen or so common varieties, and without the flowers it's hard to tell them apart, but all are very prickly and unpleasant. They have a deep tap root and are a difficult weed to eradicate unless you use herbicide on them. RoundUp (glyphosate) does work. So does digging them out, if you are careful to get most of the root. The thistle is the national flower of Scotland. Prickly, tenacious, and tough. Makes sense.

I think it's true that those "ROW" markers have something to do with right of way. Not necessarily just for roads, but the right of foot traffic to pass over the land so marked, in spite of the fact that it is private property. We have one at the corner of our five acres and there's a corresponding one across the road. I'd wager a guess that they were put in during the Depression, perhaps by some NRA project or other.

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

Thistle? Yikes. I do recall seeing some kind of spikey flower thingie last year. There seems to be a lot more of them this year.

I also see a bunch of burdock beginning to appear. That stuff is the worst, since it gets into everything.

the ROW marker

[snapcat.livejournal.com]

I believe it means Right Of Way. For some reason on state highways, they mark the boundry of state property adjacent to private property. As a matter of fact, the village of Boys Town has them along US Highway 6 or West Dodge Road.

[okageryuu.livejournal.com]

About the thistle...they do hurt..a LOT. I have bad luck with them and I always seem to step on or brush up against one with shorts or something on.