There was snake handling involved (on Amanda's part)

She dug up not one, but two frozen snakes. We thought the smaller one was a large worm snake, but when I enlarge the photograph, the faint but distinct markings of a garter snake are visible. The other one is interestingly colored in a way that makes me think that it may be a hog-nose but color is not a reliable trait with snakes, so I don't know for sure.

It took me a while to get out of the trailer this morning and the snakes were dug and in a plastic basket by the time I got there. They were "frozen" in their positions of repose, but thawed after a few hours and curled affectionately around Amanda's gloved hands.