# Ever Had The Feeling That You Were Being Watched?



## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

Well I did when I was doing some pruning this afternoon, and I was right.










The handsome devil very generously stuck around whilst I got the camera, before making a *very* quick getaway along the grape vine, no wonder they call it a whip snake. This one must be several years old as it has reached its mature size of about 5 feet, they live to about 20yrs and although they can be provoked to strike they are not venomous, but there are always a couple of seconds before the rational part of your brain kicks primal instincts into touch. Particularly when you look up and spot one tasting the air 8 inches from your face :lol:










Hopefully he'll make some return visits, I'll get no end of amusement this year watching screaming guests running around the garden h34r: :lol: :lol:

I think I'll call him Neville.


----------



## mattbeef (Jul 17, 2008)

At least you know its not venomous, thats what helps with the fear factor.

Guess you will have to start leaving him so easy meals to keep him around


----------



## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

Oh he'll find plenty of stuff around here Matt, I just hope he doesn't run into Charles (chief of the local toad clan), as I've grown rather attached to him. Though I imagine that an adult toad would be a bit too big for him to swallow, here's hoping anyway.


----------



## mjolnir (Jan 3, 2006)

He's absolutely gorgeous 

Just look at his markings. I can well imagine the moment of fear when you notice him hanging around that close to you. It would take me more than a few minutes to get my act together.

Great pictures. Thanks for posting about it.


----------



## Parabola (Aug 1, 2007)

I don't mind admitting that snakes make me very uncomfortable


----------



## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

He looks smart to me Simon - what would you "put out" to keep him coming back into the garden? some minced meat maybe? :grin:

Incidentally, do you have Processionary Caterpillars? Now those are a barsteward to deal with! :yes:


----------



## Bri (Nov 2, 2006)

Don't get many of those in Blackpool


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Hed make a great strap... er.... anyway, non venomous... pah!


----------



## ncon (Sep 14, 2005)

JonW said:


> Hed make a great strap... er.... anyway, non venomous... pah!


Hmm, yes, get a couple of nice 26mm straps out of that one, lol.


----------



## ncon (Sep 14, 2005)

JonW said:


> Hed make a great strap... er.... anyway, non venomous... pah!


Hmm, yes, get a couple of nice 26mm straps out of that one, lol. Right, all you need to do is bonk it on the head and post it to Toshi.........


----------



## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

That is awesome! Wish I'd run into one when in the Perigord a couple of years back - no snakes, but saw plenty of lizards... Mind you, I do have the lovely Vasuki to keep me company!










Not that much you can do to encourage them, apart from good coverage/hiding places - if you can attract some small furry things, lizards, frogs or small birds then that may help, but I guess they only feed once, perhaps twice a week.


----------



## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

mel said:


> He looks smart to me Simon - what would you "put out" to keep him coming back into the garden? some minced meat maybe? :grin:
> 
> Incidentally, do you have Processionary Caterpillars? Now those are a barsteward to deal with! :yes:


They love piles of dead wood Mel, both because of the shelter and due to the fact that they attract rodents. I've got several fields which I use for hay & grazing and a meadow which I only cut if the forest fire risk is very high, I try to leave a decent amount of cut brushwood stacked in one corner of the meadow. I shouldn't really do too much to encourage snakes into the garden itself as there are 3 venomous varieties around here, and they could really put a damper on your holiday :lol: They're unlikely to seriously harm a person, unlesss you're one of the unfortunate few prone to Anaphylaxis, but they are often responsible for the deaths of cats and dogs.

This is the first year I haven't seen any processionary caterpillars, I hate the little buggers. I usually spray them with a commercial insecticide, and then burn the remains in-situ. Their activities are another source of revenue for the local vets.



JonW said:


> Hed make a great strap... er.... anyway, non venomous... pah!


  Shame on you, the thought barely never entered my head :lol:



blackandgolduk said:


> That is awesome! Wish I'd run into one when in the Perigord a couple of years back - no snakes, but saw plenty of lizards... Mind you, I do have the lovely Vasuki to keep me company!


He's a beaut James, what species is he?

Did you see an ocellated lizard while you were over here? In the 7 years we've been here I've only seen one in the garden 3 times, and never when I had a camera available. They're spectacular but incredibly timid and really fast, you normally only notice them when they break cover and they've dissapeared within a few seconds.


----------



## adrian (May 23, 2004)

Nice photos.


----------



## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

_*She*_'s :lol: a Cornsnake (_Elaphe Guttata Guttata_) of the Miami morph variety and so a little bit special on these shores. I should get round to taking more photos as she's about twice the size as she was in that pic.

That lizard looks familiar - all my photos from that trip were taken on film so I'll see if I can scan a few...


----------



## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

Short of spotting it laying eggs, how do you tell James?


----------



## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

unlcky alf said:


> Short of spotting it laying eggs, how do you tell James?


Well, there are three ways... One is to 'pop' it - the process of squeezing the genital area and if something small shows then it's a chap, if not it's a girl. However, this can cause a lot of damage so I wouldn't try it. The second is to 'probe' it and see if there's anything to feel. Again, can cause damage and discomfort, so i wouldn't advise this, either. Thirdly, which is less accurate but my favoured way, is to study the 'tail' end from the anus/genital opening on - in males it tends to be thicker for an inch or two than on females...


----------



## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

- "So how did you manage to get bitten"

- "Well I'd just finished groping the snake, then I decided to take a look up its ass, and for some reason it just turned on me."

I think I'll leave it to people who know what they're doing :lol: I wouldn't want to risk hurting it just for the sake of idle curiosity, and I don't have the experience to enable me to make a comparative assesment, so I'll continue to admire them from a distance.


----------



## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Great thread! Love the lizard. we have many lizards here and most of them wont kill you so im more in favour of them.

As for the groping/popping... er... its a long dangly creature with a head with long teeth... why would you try this unless you were James who collects them? eek...


----------



## Guest (Jun 6, 2009)

i used to go fishing in cannock chase near to where i live, in the summer if it was a hot day youd often see an adder or two sitting on the grass sunning themselves. it was a bit scary at first but you soon got use to seeing them...i did try to catch one once in my landing net though-i think the sun had got to me that day-it got out of the landing net as i was bringing it towards myself and i couldnt see where it was, so i decided to move to the other side of the pool as by this time sanity had been restored!


----------

