Adrenalin rushed through my body as I stepped out my back door and heard a sound I hoped I would never hear in my yard. It was a menacing rattle that warned me to stay away! I immediately froze, looked down and smiled.

I first thought I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake at the back door. These pit vipers are common here. Much to my surprise, and relief, it was a “harmless” black snake. The rattling noise I heard was it flicking its tail in the dead leaves that accumulated against the house. Evidently, I disturbed it from eating a lizard it had just caught and it was attempting to scare me away. Before long, the lizard was devoured.

That evening at the pool, Anne saved a nearly drowned beetle that had the misfortune of falling into the water. She flicked it out onto the patio. A lizard dashed from the bushes and grabbed the beetle in an instant. Before long, the beetle was devoured.

Hmmm! Now, if I can just come across a hawk devouring a lizard!