Discovered to-day a twenty-inch-long one basking on the garden step. Their presence had been vaguely thought possible but the confirmation comes as quite a startle. Going to have to acquire a heavy-duty brush-cutter and some leggings. They probably breed under the corrugated-iron walls of a demolished shed which lie flat and neglected under the sun-deck. All bites absolutely deadly of course. The question is, dare I lift the iron panels?
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Do you know what snake it was? -
A tiger - very like the one here pictured - but considerably shorter:
I also have to block up any cracks and crevices in the brickwork, as apparently the small ones can get through a quarter-inch gap.Comment
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Good luck!Originally posted by Sydney Grew View PostA tiger - very like the one here pictured - but considerably shorter:
I also have to block up any cracks and crevices in the brickwork, as apparently the small ones can get through a quarter-inch gap.Comment
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Are you not in the UK, Sydney? All UK reptiles should be hibernating at the moment (and adders, grass snakes & slow worms are protected species so must not be harmed).Pacta sunt servanda !!!Comment
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Adders are always said to be the only poisonous native snake in the UK, though its not impossible that some non-native exotics have been brought in as pets, then escaped. I believe two or three people die of adder bites every year. My neighbor was recently nearly one of them, he was playing with his daughter on some short grass behind his house and rolled across one, which bit him on the stomach. He was very ill, but has recovered OK. Good thing it bit him and not the little girl. I was rather alarmed, because I had always associated adders with dry heathland, not the green grass of Devon. I'm quite cautious when I'm gardening.
Grass snakes and smooth snakes could perhaps bite a small child, but they seem to be non-aggressive and are always said to be harmless. Slow worms are definitely harmless, unless you are a slug, of which they apparently eat large quantities.
Of course, if Sydney is in Australia (tee hee, yes I know Sydney is in Australia), that's a different matter, Oz has a rich variety of deadly snakes.Comment
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Not quite, there were 14 deaths in the hundred years up to 1976, and none since then...Originally posted by umslopogaas View Post
Bees are far more dangerous.SteveComment
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Ah, thanks Stunsworth, I'm getting my statistics mixed. Something I find it is very easy to do. But I think my neighbor was lucky, all the same, he came close to adjusting the stats.Originally posted by Stunsworth View PostNot quite, there were 14 deaths in the hundred years up to 1976, and none since then...
Bees are far more dangerous.
As for bees, over to you, I respect them, but give them plenty of space. I got stung once and it was very painful.Comment
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I was once stung on the calf by about half a dozen wasps at the theatre in Ephesus. I assumed I'd got too near their nest. It was very painful indeed, and the sensation of the poison spreading up my leg was very odd indeed.Originally posted by umslopogaas View PostSteveComment
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My understanding is that he is more or a 'van demon'.Originally posted by ahinton View Post
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Stunsworth, 'Wasps in Ephesus?' Nasty, but pleasure is on hand, stand by for a R.V-W. overture, 'The Wasps' BzzzZZZZ ...Originally posted by Stunsworth View Post
I know what you mean, I have a recollection of chucking a stone into a wasp nest when I was a very small child and my mum said "dont do that and let's get away quick". We just got home ahead of the angry horde.
How to get rid of them? The advice is, wait until dusk and they are all home and in bed. Then take your kettle of boiling water, hand-torch in the other hand, illuminate the entry hole, pour in hot water and go back to another bottle of cut price red.
Pah, insects. They will inherit the earth. Not if I have anything to do with it.
Some vague thoughts here about evolution (who or what will inherit the earth?) and entomologists (fine people, I've worked with them a lot) but I think when we have all blown ourselves to charcoal, the insects will still be here and they will take over.
Have you read the works of Jean Henri Fabre? Wonderful stuff, in many volumes, the observations of a spectacular naturalist, "I set out on a life journey and got half way across my back yard."
Insects. They bother me a lot. They are so successful. We might think humans are successful, but when the nuclear holocaust erupts, it will be the insects that remain to crawl back over the charcoal remains of humanity.Comment
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I think for the benefit both of this forum itself and of any young town-bred readers it may retain it might be pointed out that this advice excellent as it may be applies to wasps not snakes.Originally posted by umslopogaas View PostComment
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The nightmare continues:
1) Close to where the snake was glimpsed, there is a crevice where a window-frame has separated from the brickwork. Yesterday I observed therein what looks very like the scales of a skin of a snake. Already just one step - or wriggle - away from my kitchen, bathroom - or bed-room, even! But to-day I returned and it does not seem to have changed its position. So I took photographs using flash and macro, and to-morrow I will return and take further photographs. If the position of the scales does not change it must be either an exceptionally sluggish snake or simply some kind of insulating fabric. Do members think it is a snake?
2) On the step where the snake was first glimpsed, there appeared to-day a large skink, about five inches in length, and - this is what makes it noteworthy - almost white in colour. Presumably an albino skink, such as has never before been observed. (But that is really an irrelevance in this relation.)
3) We acquired a petrol-powered brush-cutter. "Pull the string to start the motor" we are told; it was no surprise to find that, however many times I pulled the string, the motor did NOT start. Perhaps it will to-morrow.
4) We also acquired a tube of "gap-sealer." "After application, smooth the sealant with a wet finger" we are advised. Not likely!Comment
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Sydney your snake experiences put ours in the shade, we have grass snakes and adders in our and next door's gardens and fortunately don't have to worry too much about them - unlike the reptile co-habiting (almost) with you. Grass snakes too hibernating in the porch of our village church.
Surely there are local 'experts' on removing these visitors from your garden? I visited Margaret River a few years back and met someone who had a resident Boa in the garden but seemed utterly unfazed - i imagine you have to watch the domestic pets though.Comment
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