Those would be the garden variety of snakes, garter snake, grass snake, they go by numerous names. But in LA they do have poisonous snakes.
We have lots of the harmless ones here, no poisonous one. I have the stripped grass snake, gopher snakes (get quite large) and the Rubber Boa (comes out only at night). All harmless and great to have in the garden. The grass snakes eat small bugs, insects and slugs. The Gopher Snake eats gophers, other rodents and eggs from ground nesting birds. The Rubber Boa eats mostly baby mice and rats. It also is a very docile snake.

We have copper heads and cotton mouths. Both not good to tangle with, but we rarely see them anymore b/c western PA'rs will try to kill them on sight.

It must be toad time b/c another toad turned up in my garden day before yesterday. I was digging out a hardy kiwi that had sent its roots down thru the pot. As I lifted up the plant, had a shock as something jump out into the undergrowth. Thought it was a baby rabbit so I investigated (did not want to kill a nest if it was there). Turns out it was a big, old toad. Now, I've had problems with the monsters turning serial killer of my semp collection, so I put him in a big nursery pot and gave him to the neighbor's 5 kids (4 girls and one 6 yo Dennis the menace). Lot's of squeals and discussion ensued. My pot was returned in the morning and no sign of the toad except for some dried toad pee in the bottom of the pot. I think Dennis might have ate him. If Mr. Toad survived the experience, I'm sure there is a dust trail from him leaving town in a hurry. Robins don't ever go near those kids and even skunks stay out of their yard!

Oh, one more thing, speaking of snakes. I got a cheap wooden snake at a dollar store a couple of years ago. You know, the kind that is a bunch of wooden disks strung together so it wiggles lifelike. I move it from place to place every couple of days, perching it in a tree or on a bush where the tree rats can see it. Don't know how well it works, but I enjoy it. Snakes in the garden are not all bad especially if they like to eat robins.

Hi Chris! You have a Cope's gray Tree frog, (not toad) One way to almost always tell frog over toad is eye color and shape. Frog pupils are usually horizontal, toads are usually vertical with gold flecks of color. :)
Any your sedum are the most lovely I've seen since I was a kid, my mom used to grow them.

Twitcher, that's just mean. (earlier comments about making omelettes of robin eggs)
I'm sorry, but I just had to say that.
We as humans need to learn to live with Mother nature. We have to learn skills of sharing in order to fully enjoy our gardens. After all, the entire reason for growing a garden is to learn acceptance of nature, and to relax...take a deep breath A misplaced root or plant does not spoil the whole effect. Perhaps in your strive for perfection, you've overlooked the ideal that Mother nature is always evolving, just as we are supposed to do. :)
It actually adds to the experience. If you watch and wait, silently; you can see things before your eyes that would astound you as much as the flowers.
Realize they have to live too. They have needs too. And it is our keep to see to it that all things live and thrive, not just us. :)
I wish you nothing but goodness on your awakening. Open those eyes!!! :)
Tomorrow, when you get up, listen for the song of the robin. It's a beautiful sound

Well Lynxx, I learned another new thing today - an easy was to differentiate between frogs and toads! Thanks!

Lynxx, Let me share a story with you regarding robins. I am very much into edible landscaping, and as such, do share with the birds at times. However...

It was my second try growing goumi. An expensive bush, they produce a cherry-like fruit early in the year. (It's one of the Eleagnus species) The first one died after 2-3 years without getting big enough to produce fruit.

The second try survived and became a 6' bush. It flower prolifically that year and produce a lot of fruit. I watched the fruit get bigger, then start to turn red. As I watched it color up and noticed the robins eyeing the fruit, but not bothering it yet, I thought I would get some bird net and cover it. Well, I bought the bird net that evening, but it was getting dark and I decided I would cover it in the morning. Well, I got up early the next morning but when I went out to cover the plant, I found that every single, unripe fruit was gone!

The next year, I built a hoop house and moved the bush into it and covered with birdnet, securing it with garden clips quite thoroughly so there were no openings that a bird could get through. Each morning, I checked the net to make sure it was secure and checked the growing fruit. They started to color up, but still unripe, turning red, so I started keeping closer tabs on the plant, fruit and nets. Before the fruit ripened, one morning I got up and looked out the window. There were about 20 robins gathered around my small hoop house! Some sitting on it, clearly eying the unripe fruit. The d**mn birds would fly away, then zoom in, dashing themselves against the net and squawking in frustration. I'd never seen anything like it. I had to fix the net, as some of it was starting to come loose. I reinforced the netting with more clips. Each day, while there was fruit on the bush, this would repeat, but after a week or so, the birds got discouraged and moved on to something else. I got goumi fruit that year.

Well the bush died overwinter, so I had to buy another. I bought from a highly rated (DG top 30!) vendor, who ended up sending me an Autumn Olive instead of a goumi (took several years to determine that, as I had to wait for a very small plant to mature enough to fruit). So after about 10 years, I had fruit one time, spent more than $100 on plants, to say nothing of a hoop house.

Now I used to enjoy watching robins until I start growing blueberries, gooseberries, currants, bush cherries and other small fruits.
The robins are on the same level as rats. In fact, I think of them of winged rats. They do major damage to small fruit growers like myself. It's not a matter of sharing. Robins will remove a fruit from the bush, peck at a few times, drop it, them move back to the bush and get another. They will strip a crop just before it ripens up and won't stop until all the fruits were gone. If I did not use hoop houses, I would never get a single ripe berry. They are that bad. I like birds, I really do, but robins are rats in disguise and give birds a bad reputation.

These days, if I find a robin's nest on my or my parents property, I will destroy the nest. If there are eggs or baby birds, I'll let them mature enough to leave the nest, then destroy it. I am, however, always tempted to try a blue omelet I've spent hundreds of dollars on hoop house, just so I can harvest small fruits. Robins are stubborn and are not easily discouraged.

One good bit of news this year is that we have an alley cat take up residence near my yard. That cat patrols the alley like a solder marching. Up and down the alley he goes. Periodically, he'll disappear into the garden and hide, looking for flying rats. I can't tell if he's ever got one, but he tries, and from the screeching that the rats do all day, I can say that he's helping keep my fruits' survival. Whenever I hear one of my neighbor's complain about the alley cat, I speak up in its favor. He's earning his keep. I may even put some food out for him this winter, to keep him around.

Remind me sometime to tell you my story about the groundhog that ate my garden.

So twit, you still haven't tried Robin egg omelets?
Good to see you my friend. I have some things to share with all of you, I am so excited about what I found today while weeding. It will have to wait until tomorrow. Will post pictures to go with the finding.

Actually, I'm quite squeamish when it comes to many things, including food. So, no blue egged omelets so far, except in my dreams.

Lynxx, If I capture any of the flying rats, I'll be in touch to ship them your way!

That would be wonderful Twitcher. ;) I'm not so lucky as to see robins as often as you. Two years ago a huge flock came in and stayed around for about a week. It was so nice to see them again after all these years. We fed and watered them during their brief visit. then they went further south.

I too, have been trying for years to set up edible landscaping. Still working on it. Have you thought of buying some lesser expensive plants that also attract the birds with their fruit? That may save your precious Eleagnus from attack.

I have to deal with the squirrels. But I also plant enough to share with them. I grow many varieties of passion fruit (well, Gino does) and rabbiteye blueberries, raspberries. I guess it's just an attitude. I have enough for everyone, including the
squirrels. I think the poor things would starve and go thirsty without the extra plants and water we put out for them come winter. (It turns very dry here come October)

Adopt the alley cat. That's a great idea. I have a little cat that I only let outside for 3 hours each morning. She keeps the squirrels up the trees while I work in my garden. (I honestly don't like that, she also chases away the beautiful woodpeckers we intentionally feed) but in your case, I can see the alley cat being helpful.

Have you thought about a regular screened enclosure? You would have saved tons of money. Build it yourself. We just bought 21 yard grade posts from Lowes. (8 ft.) Cost about 80.00
Then I bought a 100 ft roll of screen thats 6 ft x 100 ft, for only 40.00 on Craigslist. 4 or 5 2 x 4's to make a door, and hinges, latch. The entire project will cost us about 135.00.

I'll end up with a 6 ft tall, 16 x 16 screened in garden for just some free labor from husband and I. We have insect issues. It would work for your bird problem, and save you a lot of grief....and money! When Gino is finished building it, I'll post some pictures.
I can also post you the link to kid selling screen rolls for 40.00 You'd have to ship, but those rolls are 97.00 at lowes. Good deal

I have a larger PVC hoop house that is more or less permanent. I also have a second one in progress, but ran out of money for the clips and screen. I can stand up in both of them and they span raised beds (a walkway in the center between two beds) In other threads, I think I have mentioned that I abandoned bird net and deer net in favor of fiberglass screen which is what I use exclusively now. It lasts a lot longer than birdnet and keeps the bugs out. Besides the robins, I have two other pests to deal with. One is Japanese beetles and the other is a fruit eating wasp. They would both do a lot of damage if I did not use the screen. The wasps pollinate my raspberries, but do major damage on the fruit, so I leave my raspberries uncovered until the fruit starts to develop.

Your screened house is a lot like many others that I have heard about. It seems to be a popular approach in CA. I've seen pictures of people that erect pole frameworks high enough to span trees - 10 feet or more high. They then permanently erect screen or bird net, depending on needs. It's really nice to be able to garden outdoors, but not worry too much about the various pests. Sometimes I'll just go out to my screened hoop house and sit for a while, just to relax.

Our robins show up in early spring and then stay for the whole season - we still have robins here, even though we are now getting frosts.

Where robins are concerned, diversionary crops just do not work. I've planned my fruits so that there is something that should be ripening all year long (May through October) and the constant pressure of the robins makes them a problem all season long. I also am limited on space, so could not grow a lot of excess to share with them.

I am a fan of Autumn Olive, but they are considered invasive in many places (not here) and I do not know if they will grow in FL. However, they can be highly productive and are very easy.

Stark brothers had some really nice eastern olives i wanted to order, but now they must be out. I'm not sure if they'd do well in your area, but they were talking about leaving it potted up, so at least you could bring that one inside come winter. Yes, autumn olive is invasive, and everywhere down here.
I ordered 3 different zone 9b seedless grapes, that will arrive around the 1st of December.
We also made a garden we just relax in, although it's uncovered. I haven't had many bug issues, even though there is banana, coconut, and brugmansia in it. It's nice to sit back and admire your hard work.
I wish you luck with the bird situation. It sounds like the best thing is to keep the kitty around. I have an entire bag of seed for them sitting in shed, and my cat chases them so effectively I don't know if the bag will ever empty!

Just curious, but do you eat the autumn olives? I hear they make a marvelous jam or jelly.

i have never tried them. I'll ask Gino, he loves foraging and knows more about what you can and can't eat 'off the bush' down here. I was raised in more northern climate, and don't know all these Florida plants as well as he does ;) When he gets back, I'll ask him.
If it's not illegal in your state, and I can find one, I could start you some cuttings for next spring. No problem to start you some olive.
Again, if I can find it. (City went through about 2 weeks ago and really cut back all overhanging vines, shrubs, wild stuff.)

Normal olive does not survive here. I have a number of Autumn Olives, which are not related to the regular olives. I eat my Autumn Olives. The fruit is a little tart/bitter, unless dead ripe. It is very healthy. You are wise to only eat what you can accurately identify.

Twit, how does Autumn Olive differ from regular olive trees, or Russian Olive bushes?

Chris, I wanted to tell you, the picture you posted on June 15th is an American toad.

AO is a relative of Russian Olive. They are both members of the Eleaegnus family, which includes goumi and silverberry. I have never had a chance to try Russian Olive fruit (if you have available locally, c-mail me!), but had a tree that eventually died on me. They get a fungal infection here that kills them just about the time they are large enough to start setting fruit.

Eleaegnus are a completely different family of plants than regular olives. Regular olive are a Mediterranean plant while most the Eleaegnus are temperate climate. Russian Olive and Autumn Olive are hardy to at least zone 4. Autumn Olive fruit are red, with silver speckles and quite distinctive. They are typically about 1/4" in diameter and ripen here in October. Not discussed too much is that it is a beautiful small tree or large bush. Silvery foliage and tons of small red berries in the fall.

Check out this brief reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...

Very interesting twit. We had Russian Olive that became very invasive in Eastern Washington. I didn't know you could eat the fruit. It to made large shrubs, or small trees, has beautiful silver gray foliage. http://www.nps.gov/plants/alie...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...
Makes me want to try them, the Russian olive really sounds yummy.

Yes, I'd like to try them myself. AO is a good nibble food and very healthy for you. RO is supposed to stay on the tree and dry into a sweeter nibble.

Hmmm, wonder when they would be ready for harvest them? After a frost? Oct, Nov? Maybe I should make a trip to Yakima and harvest some. Wonder if they are still on the tree.

They are supposed to remain on the tree as they dry at the end of the growing season. Birds like them though. If you were going to do that, I would do it soon, then make note of what state they are in. Might take a season or two to figure out what the best time is.

If you go, be careful to not fall out of a tree!