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I am not a copperhead. And that matters because you're about to kill me with a shovel.

I'm an Eastern Milk Snake — two to three feet long, tan with reddish-brown blotches outlined in black, completely harmless, and I look enough like a copperhead to get killed in most encounters with humans.

Here's the four-second field ID that saves my life.

My head is the same width as my neck. A copperhead's head is triangular — visibly wider than its neck. That's it. One glance. Same width means harmless. Wider means venomous. You can see this from six feet away.

My blotches are irregularly shaped — rough-edged ovals and saddles. A copperhead's crossbands are hourglass-shaped — wide on the sides, narrow across the spine. The pattern difference is visible without getting close.

I'm one of the most useful snakes in a suburban yard. I eat mice, voles, chipmunks, and — critically — other snakes, including young copperheads. A milk snake in your garden is predator defense you didn't install.

I got my name from an old myth that I sneak into barns to drink milk from cows. I don't. I sneak into barns to eat the mice that eat the grain. The farmers who killed me for stealing milk were killing their own rodent control.

Right now I'm emerging from a hibernation site under your foundation or stone wall. I've been dormant since October. I'm slow, I'm cold, and I'm looking for the first mouse of the season.

🐍 If you find a snake this spring:

- Head the same width as neck means harmless — in the eastern US this single check correctly identifies the vast majority of non-venomous species you'll encounter in a yard
- A snake near your foundation in March is emerging from hibernation, not moving in. It'll disperse within days as temperatures warm
- If one is inside your house, it followed a mouse in. Guide it out with a broom toward an open door — don't strike
- Milk snakes, rat snakes, and garter snakes are the three species most commonly mistaken for venomous snakes and killed. All three are harmless and all three eat the rodents and pests you don't want
- Leave any snake you find in the garden where it is — it's patrolling for rodents along the same routes mice use to enter your house

I look like the thing you fear. I eat the thing you fear. That confusion gets me killed every spring 🌿

That delicate web you almost walked through?

It’s a carefully engineered trap.

Spiders spin silk that is incredibly strong for its size, building structures designed to catch prey while using as little energy as possible.

These alternatives are changing the look of North Carolina gardens one yard at a time.

Winter may feel quiet, but for gray foxes, it’s the start of something new.

January and February mark the beginning of courtship season. Males often pair with one female each winter and may even reunite with the same partner in future years.

By spring, they’ll choose a cozy den in dense grasses, hollow trees, or beneath rocks, where three to five kits are usually born. Both parents are believed to help raise the young through summer, until the kits begin exploring territory of their own in fall.

Even in the cold months, family life is already taking shape. 😍

Backyard birding photos

Are you curious about the Master Gardener Program? Stop by our office this Thursday evening or join us by Zoom for the EMG Interest Session! You can read more about the Master Gardener program here: https://harnett.ces.ncsu.edu/harnett-county-extension-master-gardener-program/

Baskets and deck planters are done! I use the local schools to get annuals like FTCC & Western Harnett HS. They start little but grow big with TLC and I save lots. I also planted zinnias and marigolds in one raised bed and in another tomatoes and cucumbers.

One truck load from Efrain & 3 pallets and mulching is done! ✅