Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Snakes On A Plain



I was out for a walk yesterday when I almost stepped on one of these. I didn't take the picture because I had forgotten to carry my camera. I borrowed the pic from here

I have a bit of a history of stepping on snakes, as various friends will testify. An adder in UK, an unidentified critter in Cyprus, I (almost) stepped on a copperhead in the Audubon National Park in Kentucky - Lorenzo caught my arm and halted my step just in time - and have had various adventures here in France. We have even had vipers in the house more than once and we now have an implement specially for picking them up and removing them to outdoors - the fly whisk just seems to make them angrier, I can't think why.

Fortunately this one, which slipped into the river and swam across as I watched, was a harmless grass snake - identified, after the event, by the lovely yellow band round its neck. And it was only a baby - nowhere near as big as this varmint.

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