First Critter of the Year

My pool has been open for less than a week, and already the first critter visitor has graced its waters. 

Yes, as I got home yesterday afternoon, I was greeted by a small snake in the corner of the pool.

I am not one of those crazy people who believe that the only good snake is a dead snake. I like snakes philosophically, but I also do not like to pick them up with my hands. I just don't trust them.

Rescued Northern Brown Snake

This was a small snake, maybe a foot long, that apparently got excited about the warm concrete around the pool and went a bit too far and becomes trapped in the still too cold water. It was curled up on a step just at the water line. Still in the water, but also very active.

I believe it was a Northern Brown Snake, but I'm no snake expert.

How do you get a small snake out of a pool?

Encourage it to swim and then corral it with the net and evacuate it to solid ground. 

I successfully accomplished this task and hope never to see this snake in my pool again. I always worry about sticking my hand into  one of the skimmers without fully checking for critters and finding one there. 

I am expecting other critters to visit the pool soon--usually frogs. Sometimes frogs of biblical proportions.

I rescue what I can.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD