I don't know how many of you are familiar with South Georgia peanut farming, but you can find some interesting things in the peanut wagons. To harvest peanuts, farmers dig them up and let them sit exposed in the field for few days to dry out. Once they're dry, the farmer pick the peanuts with a piece of equipment. Once the hopper is full, the peanuts are dumped into either wagons (which are pulled by pick-ups) or 45-foot semi trailers (which, of course, are pulled by big trucks). Thing is, eastern diamondbacks love peanut fields. And it's fairly common for EDBs, even some larger ones, to survive the peanut-picking process and get dumped into peanut wagons/trailers.
A good rule of thumb when climbing into a wagon/trailer to level off the load (which must be done before hauling to the mill) is to carefully peek over the wagon before climbing so as not to end up face to face with an angry rattler.
Monday night, I received a call from a friend of mine who is working with a peanut farmer this fall. He told me he had a small EDB that had made it through the picker. I've been looking for one, so I told him to hold the snake until I got there. Turned out to be a nice little find. I've included a picture of it here. I'm having some dialog with several large peanut growers that I know in hopes of being able to catch and relocate any snakes they find in the wagons or trailers. Usually, the farmhands just kill them and move on. Anyway, here's the first peanut patch EDB of the year.
