I think of the woman I know who looked out her window one summer and saw a rat snake climbing the pole to her nest box, heading straight for the place where the baby bluebirds were trapped. Without giving any thought to the reason why bluebirds raise as many as five clutches each year, the woman ran outside with her hedge clippers and cut that poor snake in half. I have seen a rat snake in a state of fear, and I can hardly let myself remember that story, but I remember it every time I see the little hawk slamming into the hedge where the bluebirds have taken shelter just past my own window.
