The Snake and the Vole June 23, 2017

I can't believe I caught something like this with my camera.  I assume that the snake chased the vole right out of the ground and caught it in the middle of the driveway.  I drove right by that spot on my way to my mulch pile, and I filled the cadet with mulch.  The road was empty at that time.  On my way back towards the house right in the middle of the road was this ball of something.  I drove closer to it, and I thought it was either a snake that I had run over or it was two snakes mating (I have seen that before and they writhe around each other).  When I got right up next to it I saw that there was something furry tangled up with the snake.  The snake was squeezing the vole to death in preparation for swallowing it.  Wow, I have never seen anything like it before!  I raced to the house for my camera, drove back and took these pictures.

 In the picture above and below you can see the snake's head and the vole's paw.

 

 In the picture below the snake is becoming aware of my presence, plus my little dog Sadie was sniffing around.

 The snake decided there was too much activity so he left his meal and slithered off.  The vole raced for cover, but I doubt he lived through the ordeal.