Wildlife in my backyard

We have a really pretty pond.  If you squint.

And you don't mind green water.  

I have spent the last three days working about ten hours a day on cleaning it up.

I'm sunburned, scratched, smashed, and weary.  

I have major hangnails, broken nails, and permanently stained nails.  

I smell like pond water, my hair is disgustingly dry and I'm running out of band aids.

And a friend commented on Facebook that perhaps I shouldn't be in this pond with cuts or open sores.  

Thanks so much..... Haha.  

I'm not really afraid of getting Swamp Fever or whatever....

The fish like to swim up and nudge you and give kisses and such when you are in there.  

They are wondering what that enormous white thing is in their 'house.' 

And I keep reminding myself that those are FISH.  Even though the water is icky and I can't see them.

The nudges have to be fish. 

Cause if they aren't,

they might be snakes.

(Did I tell you we had a snake in the pond all last summer?

I didn't go wading any then.  And it was kinda big) 

I found this baby one a day or two ago.  I hope he's not part of an undiscovered litter.

I know he's tiny but I'm getting sick of snakes!  

A few days ago, there was a big bull snake looking one in the front yard--long and fat.

Then when I was cleaning up some leaves, a pinkish one flipped out of his hiding place under them

and slid away too fast for me to catch/kill/photograph!  

Now this.  

I had just moved that rock.  Shudder

I sprinted for the porch, grabbed my camera and a bucket

and caught him before he could slither away.

(What?  You don't grab your camera when you go to catch a snake? 

The real unbelievable part is that I sprinted!)

I had the presence of mind to turn on the camera 

as I 'raced' back to the snakey rock.

Then I caught him in a bucket and killed him with a shovel.

(And I put a hole in my bucket.  Another dollar bucket, down the tubes.)

See how tiny he is?  I'm a murderess.

But he was striking and hissing and being ugly.

And after I cut him in two, (or her, whatever)
He continued to strike and hiss till I cut his head off.

And then I buried him in a gopher run.

And today, I saw these on the fence:

Lady bugs (good) or Asian Lady Beetles (not good).
They both eat aphids but the Asian ones tend to swarm and are indoor pests.

Ah well.

I forgot to take a picture of the 20 million (more or less) Black widow spider egg sacs
I saw when cleaning up leaves.  Sorry you missed it.