Is this a saga?

When I told my neighbor I killed the snake--She's the one who said, "Oh. We love the snakes." And so on.--she said, "Don't worry. You'll get more."

Swell.

Yesterday proved her prophecy. I opened my garage door to find a snake, sunning himself on my driveway, very close to sliding under my garage door and coming inside. He looked like the identical twin of the one I killed, but I suppose all such small snakes look alike. My neighbor's snake-love notwithstanding, I don't want him. I tried to step on him/it, and thought I'd kick him out to the street but only succeeded in chasing him over to my other neighbor's yard. He hid himself in the weedy area right under a pine tree.

He'll be back, I'm sure.

And, actually, he is not the first thing on my mind these days. Just one of the things.

Why?

I killed the snake.

I feel bad about it.

If I could talk to the animals

The tree guys are here. I asked Erik, the boss, if he knew how to get rid of snakes. He said, "Oh, snakes are good. They eat rodents."

Okay. I'll try to be happy. Snakes are probably better than mice. However, a squirrel is a rodent, and I don't like squirrels, and I don't see any decrease the their numbers, which means the snake does not bother the squirrels.

Then Erik asked where the snake's nest is. I showed him the place right near my front step where the snake slips up between the concrete and the siding. He said, "Yes, I see another snake skin here."

So. Does that mean my snake has shed his skin twice? Or does it mean more than one snake? Of course, there's no way to tell how long that other snake skin has been there.

If you're thinking all this is kind of like a nightmare, you are right.

Erik and Daniel suggested that when I see the snake out, I should get that spot calked up. Easy for them to say. And here's what I thought:

• I do not stand around waiting to see the snake.
• If I did, he wouldn't come out.
• I don't do calking.

Just then my neighbor Pam came over. I told her about the snake and what Erik had said. He smiled. She said, "We have a lot of snakes. They come up from the canal back there. My husband loves the snakes. He protects them." Erik looked happy. He had been validated.

Then my neighbor said, "I fed the raccoons over the weekend."

I said, "What? How?" And, of course, why? But I didn't say it.

"We were gone all weekend," she said, "and we took Dash with us [their dog]. I left his little place open. There was food in there. When we got home we found things tipped over and all the food gone."

Swell. So now the raccoons have been fed and encouraged, and they don't need any encouragement. I'd better keep an eye out for them again. 

And this means that while a dog may scare a raccoon, if it's big enough --at least that's what I heard-- obviously the scent of dog doesn't. Ron, my neighbor across the street, says, "I told her [Michelle, the new neighbor] to keep her dog inside because a raccoon will kill that little dog. Any dog isn't safe because a dog will stick its nose right in and the raccoon will scratch its eyes out."

That is scary and leads me to ask, "What kind of a place is this? It also leads me to think it might be a good thing if the raccoons were here when the phantom dog poops on my lawn. But then I'd have a real mess to clean up.

Yes, It's a Lovely Day, Sort of

It's a beautiful day, so at around 4:30 this afternoon I went outside to have a little walk. However, I was greeted by an unpleasant pile of dog excrement in my front yard and had to clean that up. I do not know what to do about that. It's certainly not the first time.

Any suggestions?

I thought about posting a sign out there:  

PLEASE DO NOT LET YOUR DOG 

USE MY LAWN AS HIS TOILET. 

IF I SEE HIM, I WILL SHOOT HIM. 

OR HER. 

Of course, I won't do that. And, of course, I don't own a gun.

I was also greeted by the snake who lives here and could not--again--manage to send it flying somewhere. (I didn't have my broom with which to sweep it away.) Here is my question: Can snakes hear? I don't see any ears, but that snake hears me coming. Ground vibrations?

I do not like sharing my home with snakes. When the thing has babies what shall I do? Help!

P.S. Later in the evening I discovered, near my front door, the empty snake skin "my" snake had wriggled out of and discarded. Does that mean he's getting bigger? Truly, I do not like this.