Snake in your yard
In old Maltese, Romanian and Italian belief, a house snake was welcomed, on Malta even as a guardian. Most yard snakes do help, eating slugs and mice, so the sight raises a question about protection that does not look friendly.
What it may mean
Across old Europe, the snake that lived by the house was often treated as one of the household, even its guardian. Maltese country people spoke of an old black serpent that watched over the household, Romanian peasants let the house snake share their food, and Italians made a snake that came indoors welcome. The modern yard backs them up in its own way: a garter snake in the flower bed is busy clearing out slugs, and a rat snake under the shed is keeping the mice down. The helper is not cuddly. You might ask which of your own protections look unfriendly at first glance: a strict rule, a blunt friend, an alarm you resent, a boundary someone set that kept you out of trouble. Not every guardian smiles.
Depending on how you saw it
A garter snake in the garden bed
Garter snakes, the striped ones most Americans meet, eat slugs, worms and insects and are harmless to people. Gardeners who leave them alone get free pest control. What helper in your life have you been trying to chase away?
A snake stretched across the warm driveway
On cool spring and fall days, snakes lie on sun-warmed pavement and rocks to heat up before they can move well. Given a few minutes and some room, a basking snake will leave on its own. Is there something you are trying to push along that only needs time and space?
Under the woodpile or the porch
Snakes follow mice, and mice follow clutter, birdseed and woodpiles. A snake under the porch is the last link in a chain that started with something you put out. Which unwanted visitor in your life is really the end of a chain you could change at the start?
A snake crossing the trail
A snake crossing a trail or a sidewalk wants to get away from you as much as you want it gone. Most bites happen when people try to catch or kill a snake. Stopping and letting it pass is almost always enough. Where would standing still for a moment end a standoff?
Why it happens in nature
Most snakes in American yards, such as garter snakes, rat snakes and brown snakes, are harmless and help by eating slugs, insects and rodents. They come for food and for shelter under woodpiles, decks and stone walls, and they bask on warm surfaces in spring and fall. Venomous species live in many regions, so an unfamiliar snake is best watched from a distance.
What folk beliefs say
Malta
Country people on Malta spoke of the "hares," an old black serpent that guarded the house and favored the children born there. Killing it was thought to cause great misfortune.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 697. View the page
Romania
Romanian country people, above all the housewife, took anxious care not to injure the harmless house snake that came out from the rafters to feed from the family's dish.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 698. View the page
Italy
An Italian who found a snake in the house considered it a token of good fortune and made its stay as pleasant as possible.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 694. View the page
To reflect on
Which protection in your life looks unfriendly but has kept you out of trouble?