With the long grass in the pastures, it is a perfect habitat for a variety of small snakes. The small snakes eat a variety of bugs, worms, toads and some of the larger ones even help keep the vole and other rodent populations in check.

I came across a pile of garter snakes hanging out near one of our animal sheds. I was quick enough to get a few pictures and a short video before they all slithered underneath the shed and out of sight.

Click through for more pictures of some snakes and another surprise visitor.

There were at least 5 garter snakes hanging out near each other in the shed. A couple slithered away before I got any good pictures.

A handful of garter snakes out in the pastures in a shed.

Another garter snake hanging out in a shed.

In addition to the snakes, there was another surprise visitor in the backyard a few days ago. A lone wild turkey came right across the backyard just off of the back porch. While we have seen some wild turkey flocks in neighboring fields in the area, this is first time we have seen a wild turkey so close to the house.

Unfortunately I was a bit too slow to get a good picture.  You can just see the back of the turkey as it disappears behind a shed in the backyard.

A wild turkey walking out of view in the backyard.