Ring-necked Snake, Home woodpile

Given that I'm under rather strict orders from my cardiac team to avoid splitting wood by hand—a passion and a discipline for close to the past half-century—it's been wonderful that my youngest son Noah has taken to the task. But I can still cut, haul, and stack wood without restriction, so, instead of taking a long walk I decided to get my workout from piling at least a quarter of a cord of splittings in an orderly fashion on the wood stack. When I gingerly pulled back the blue tarps that keep the fuel dry, I was on the lookout for hornet's nests and Black Rat Snakes, both of which I've discovered hiding in the covered pile. This time, however, the only resident was an adult and handsome Ring-necked Snake, a mini-serpent not much more than a foot-long—they don't get much longer than that—but still a terror to insects, small salamanders and frogs, earthworms, and slugs. While I'd rather our resident Diadophis punctatus eschew eating the amphibians, I'm more than happy to afford the serpent all the slugs our gardens and woods can produce.