I saw bluebirds going to one of my birdhouses in my front yard Friday.
Saturday morning, I got up early so I could get pictures of them feeding their little ones. I was able to get the mom and dad bringi n g them several differe n t kinds of food consisting mostly of ground puppies and other small insects.
It didn't take long to realize I was almost standing in a fire ant bed. I had to move a few feet away after cleaning them off.
The bluebirds were really coming back and forth pretty regularly, so I was able to get quite a few pictures of them.
I finally got back to working on my backyard projects and about 30 minutes later, we heard the mom and dad making quite a bit of noise in the front yard.
I have seen them trying to coax the little ones out of the nest and thought it was sweet. And, that is what they were doing.
After a little while, I walked a little closer. Something just was not right as I saw the male frantically flying close to the house and flying up and away.
I walked towards it and saw the problem. There was huge yellow rat snake with about half of its body inside the birdhouse.
I walked over and snatched it out and threw it a few feet away. I got me a bucket with a lid and was able to get the snake inside hauled it a couple of miles away and released it.
I came back and checked out the bird nest and there was one bird inside dead. The snake had made breakfast out of however many were in the house.
I had the house mounted on a metal pipe, which I thought should not have allowed the snake to do this. But, it got to them anyway.
Nature can be hard sometimes and I know it is the Circle of Life, even though it does not make it any easier to have seen what happened and be a witness to see it.
• Wayne Morgan is freelance wildlife photographer and author.
