Monday, February 18, 2008

I went looking for snakes today....






I went looking for snakes today. I wanted to take a couple of photos but it was a bit hot and I couldn't be bothered walking down the hill. A large black tiger snake likes to bask in the sun atop a pile of rocks, halfway down the hill.. and it is a bit of a bugger of a walk.
So I wandered over to a pile of car parts instead. I know that there is a tiger snake that lurks over here. I heard some likely sounding rustlings but didn't see any snakes..

Witchypoo has mentioned a couple of times that she is a bit concerned that my frogponds will attract snakes.. So I thought that I had better take some pics and give her a better idea of the sort of country I live in.

This is part of my front yard. As you can see I don't live in suburbia and I am lucky enough to share my home with heaps of wildlife.. including all three types of Tasmanian snakes.


This is looking down the hill, the one I couldn't be bothered walking down earlier.

I have only been 'surprised' by a snake three times in my adult life, one of those times was when one of the cats brought me a young tiger snake as a gift..It was still alive but luckily it was only a baby. I get glimpses of a small copperhead hunting near one of the ponds occasionally but I have only ever see the flash of a tail disappearing.
I like snakes but I also treat them with respect. We taught the children 'snake safe' behaviour when they were very young.

My children walked down this dirt road to catch the school bus at the corner. Today David mentioned that on the walk home he saw a copperhead at the corner and then halfway home he saw a tiger snake disappearing into the scrub. Dave spoke about seeing the snakes as casually as a city kid would mention seeing an ice cream van on a hot day..It is something that you expect to see...
cheers kim

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

some lovely pics again as always..

the only thing that would worry me is if a snake got to Maddison or my dog or cats..

does that worry you with your dog and cats?

but i dont think we have that worry here in adelaide..

glad ya liked the pics of Maddison

taz

frog ponds rock... said...

Not really Taz.. Harry barks at echidnas but he is very wary of the blue tongues we have here.. and points at them instead of annoying them..So I reckon he would leave a snake alone.. he's a good dog..

There are some areas here which are "snakier' than others and it really is just a matter of common sense..
and not letting Amy out of my sight as well...

how could I not like the pics of Maddison??? hehehehe she is gorgeous

cheers kim

Veronica Foale said...

That is why Amy doesn't get to play outside alone, because there are just to many snake traps here. Especially around the tank.

Hee hee at Davey's track!

Ah also? That troll is back. On the weekly winners post. They stayed slightly nicer this time, but they still stayed for 16 mins.

Veronica Foale said...

too* many

Anonymous said...

Kim, thank you! If you get any pics, I'm sure you will post them.
You know how fascinated I am by them. We don't have any venomous snakes where I live. Not that I'm unhappy about that...
Veronica, invite the troll to help herself from your mum's car parts hehe.

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

You live in a beautiful part of OZ. I am not a fan of snakes but all creatures have a right to their space.

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful place you live in :) I know it's not the same but when I was younger our garden backed onto a huge wooded area, I often saw adders sliding off under a rock etc. Like you said, it's just common sense really isn't it?

Anonymous said...

I love snakes too. There was a massive tiger snake at the bottom of our road which a lot of visitors saw. I dont see the problem with them. It's not like they chase you as soon as you spot them.

Anonymous said...

I love snakes too. There was a massive tiger snake at the bottom of our road which a lot of visitors saw. I dont see the problem with them. It's not like they chase you as soon as you spot them.

Julie said...

Abe and I were walking along a shoreline here (one of the few lakes here in the desert...) and Abe stepped on a snake...he actually jumped back and avoided it, which amazed me because the time he saw a tarantula he desperately wanted to play with it. He is not a completely stupid dog after all...

We don't see any snakes in our neighborhood, but we do see coyotes running through the washes sometimes. Lots of lost dogs here...Coincidence? I don't think so.

Texasholly said...

Beautiful pictures. I am a little glad you didn't find the snakes. We live in snake country and my kids run across them occasionally, but they are not my favorite.

frog ponds rock... said...

Veronica Just ignore the troll, I went over and checked their comment out.. mm Suss very very suss...

I will try and get you some pics witchy but I generally only see the snakes when I dont have my camera handy.. We have to move some roofing iron soon.. so I will see what I can do..

I agree with you there Trish.. It is all about having respect..

Thats right Marilyn and being observant and stuff like that..

Your mum has some nice shots of a tiger snake that was in her chook pen..

Good for Abe *phew*..

cheers Kim

frog ponds rock... said...

hrh.. thanks...

Old Knudsen said...

St Patrick cast all the snakes out of Ireland and you'd have thought he'd set up a business. I don't think I've ever seen a snake in the wild and I'm quite happy to keep it that way. You seen to have the right attitude, a healthy respect, don't bother them and they won't bother you. People with that vibe usually do well in the less urban areas.

River said...

As children my brother and I would occasionally go out into the open fields around Port Pirie and play with the small snakes we found there. I've no idea what type they were and I suppose we were very lucky not to get bitten. a couple of times my brother would smuggle one in to school and release it when a particularly hated lesson or test was expected. Teacher would scream and dismiss the class.. Not so funny now, but hilarious back then.

Unknown said...

I have heard that y'all have some nasty critters Down Under. Snakes that chase you. Spiders that jump at you. It's a good thing the people are what's really worthwhile down there, because otherwise, I think I'd just not want to go there.

Unknown said...

Your blog is so fun, Frog Ponds, even if you DO write about wriggly things! I love your pictures and really, wriggly things don't bother me. So rock on!

Anonymous said...

*shudder* snakes freak me out. Thankfully we don't see many of them around here. But Blue Tongues, yes.

*shudder* again....

dawn224 said...

*looking for snakes* = words you'll never hear me say.