The Tale of Tony and Cleo

Trigger warning: Adorable snakes.

In 2014, my mother needed to move in with my husband and me, so we quickly sold our two-bedroom townhouse and got a three-bedroom in the same complex to make things simple.

Our first day here, I discovered we had two resident garter snakes. They lived under the cement step from the courtyard to the house. It’s an old place, so the step has a wide crack separating it from the wall. I could see them there together, catching the morning sun.

I grew up with snakes, tadpoles, and amphibians of all types (for Colorado, anyway), as referenced in the story below.

That’s one of them in the story photo on their afternoon rounds. I saw them as natural pest control. They kept down the slugs, the ants, and the mice. I think they would be too small to devour a mouse, but the mice didn’t know that. I was grateful because I could hardly bear to poison the slugs or kill the ants.

One warm day, I was in our Tiny Courtyard and saw a stampede of slugs heading up a wall. Ok, it was a SLOW stampede, but nevertheless, it was unusual as they are rarely seen during the day. But apparently, they know snakes can’t climb straight up. And that’s when I saw one of the pair, tongue flicking furiously, stalking through the undergrowth.

Our Tiny Courtyard is small, with high walls. I love the privacy. It’s filled with ferns and one Japanese maple I named Yujin, which I thought was Japanese for “friend,” but just now discovered it’s Japanese for “Eugene.” (Sorry, Yujin, it’s too late to rename you now!) Tony and Cleo seemed happy out there.

Even my mom loved seeing them since she also was used to snakes having raised a snake collector and reptile fan. When she lived in Arizona, she would carefully sweep baby rattlers into the wash by her house and out of the street.

They were efficient predators and fun to watch. I had to warn vendors coming through the courtyard to watch their feet. “Please watch out for the snakes,” I’d say, feeling rather proud. I grew used to watching for them every year. I had a nice little ecosystem in my backyard.

I fussed over them in the cold winter months and wondered if we would see them again. But every early April, I’d get a thrill to see them again, warming on the rocks or between the step and house.

They were light enough to sun themselves on the fronds of the ferns.

I never could figure out how they ended up in the courtyard of a suburban townhome complex, far from natural areas, but I was so happy to host them. I am unsure if they were male and female or just bonded same-sex buddies. But they seemed to enjoy each other’s company.

But garter snakes only live three or four years, and there came a time when they didn’t show up. I thought of them under the house, curled together, in their snake tomb. People might think it’s strange to grieve over two snakes, but grieve, I did.

Here’s to Tony and Cleo, the best natural pest control and the finest garter snakes I have ever had the pleasure to know. And I’ve known a lot!

And yes, we had an explosion of ants, slugs, and mice after they were gone.

With thanks to Elder Taoist. His series on Freddy the Frog inspired me to write about Tony and Cleo.