Eeeek! Snake in the compost bin

I thought I would take a little break from the computer on this nice sunny day, so I did something that I’ve been giving lip service to for two years. I raked up a big pile of grass cuttings from the latest lawn mowing to put in the compost bin. We’ve been throwing food stuff in there for 3 years but never anything else. So it never “cooks” (breaks down and turns into black gold). I have never even stirred it up. The grass cuttings do add some needed ingredients to get the compost cooking.

Now I’ve always been careful when opening the lid of the bin because when we moved here, the *very* first time I went out there (hmmm, early August, come to think of it, just like today) there was a snake hangng out on top of all of the stuff (left by the former owners (not the snake, the stuff!)). I have added to it once or twice a week all year round for three years since then and have never seen another one. Today, rather than carefully sliiiiiiiiding the lid just a bit to expose enough space for me to put my little compostable cornstarch bag of kitchen compost in, I just flipped the lid off onto the ground and of course – SNAKE! Just a garden snake, but it was not one those little 1/4 inch diameter ones. It was more like 1  or 1 1/2 inches around.

Needless to say, after my girlie shriek and jumping back, I abandoned the lid, my bag of grass cuttings and my little pitchfork for when Rich gets home. In the meantime, I hope the poor snake recovers from the probable minor heart attack he had. There he was, resting in a nice dark place before all of this happened!

I’m not really afraid of snakes. In fact, a college friend had an Indian Python named Eve that I got friendly enough with to actually put around my shoulders a few times. It’s just the *surprise* snakes.

shiver…

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3 thoughts on “Eeeek! Snake in the compost bin

  1. Anyone that doesn’t think compost bins attract snake has blinders on. Snakes love heat, you see them sunning themselves on rocks on hot summer days, so it’s a natural thing that they are attracted to "heat producing" compost bins that no only provide heat, but also food. I’ve had a compost bin for a number of years and have "always" had snakes in the bin. A couple of days ago there were four of the little critters sitting right on top, and one was actually inside a compost bag sitting on the top of the pile. Snakes will keep the rodent population down somewhat but I still get moles, mice and occasionally a bird in my swimming pool strainer. Live with it, the snakes (around here at least) won’t hurt you! No one would ever claim that getting rid of waste was a fun job so toughen up and do your bit by composting.

  2. I’ve gotten quite used to them being there, in fact expecting them because of all of the heat being generated there. I just hate throwing the compost on top of them.

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