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Western Whip snake...?...Nag and Nagina...area 24


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I went outside this afternoon…and looking down the drive saw a magpie…jumping around…and pecking something. A few days earlier I’d found the remains of a baby black bird on the grass and decided that a magpie was probably to blame for it early demise…and as a blackbird was also on the drive keenly watching this aerobic performance…I justifiably thought that the magpie was up to no good yet again. So I ran down towards it clapping my hands in an effort to drive it away. Imagine my horror as I saw that the magpie had been attacking what looked like a very large snake…I froze…and before my eyes…it unravelled into two rather large snakes which had been mating. As I approached them they quickly separated…and slithered into the shrubs…on closer examination I found that one had climbed a medium sized conifer…and was watching me…"merde!"…I said not too quietly!

Well I didn’t want to hurt either of them…but I also didn’t want them so close to the house… so I decided to chase them away with a blast of water from my hose…as the water hit the one in the tree it just lay across the branches completely unperturbed…now this shook me as snakes usually run for cover if threatened…another blast had little effect…but after about the fourth soaking it got the message and to my relief…disappeared…so I hosed down the whole area which backs onto a wall…hoping to chase the pair away once and for all.

I’d no sooner turned my back when the amorous couple were once again on the edge of the drive…coiling their supple bodies around one another in a frenzy of serpentine passion…so I chased them off yet again with the hose…in a desperate bid to get them to move into my neighbours woods…where both they…and I…would feel safe.

The larger of the two climbed up the shrubs…and ended up on the top of the wall…I went around to the rear of the wall which backs onto higher ground covered in very long grass… and found him coiled…watching me…with hard unblinking emotionless eyes… so I returned to the house…got my camera…(and my Wellington boots…well you never know what lurks in the long grass here!)…and on returning took several shots of him.

I then went back and recoiled the hose…looking back at the drive…I saw to my astonishment…that the pair were at it AGAIN…I grabbed my camera…but they were now wary of me…and disappeared into the bushes…where I got the occasional glimpse of them writhing around…finally I saw them part company and slither away…still in the shrubbery…and much too close to the house. 

I don’t know much about snakes…where they lay their eggs…etc…but I really don’t want to find an angry maternal Nagina…lunging at me next time I put my hand in the shrubbery!

So tomorrow I’ll buy some serpent repellent…and hope that they take the hint…and move into my neighbours woods. 

Effie

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What a great shame that you are unaware of just how fortunate you were, it's so unusual to get the opportunity to see two snakes breeding in the wild, let alone whip snakes which put on quite a performance.

Why not welcome them to your place, they will do you no harm and will be part of a healthy balance to your garden / land.

Chris

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Hi there Chris...and thank you for your words of wisdom...I've read many of your answers here...and feel that if any one knows their wild life..you do.

I first came across one of these snakes a couple of weeks ago...it was beside my vegetable patch...hunting for lizards I think...I was in awe of its amazing colours...and stood and watched it.. until it reared up to get a better look at me...and as I tried to slip back to the house for my camera...it was gone faster than I could blink.

I looked it up in one of my books...and felt happier knowing that it's not venemous...but I have to admit that I'm not really comfortable with snakes...though I have got a photo of myself...taken in Singapore... with a huge boa constrictor wrapped around my shoulders.

 It's strange that many people...and animals...fear snakes...(my monkey went hysterical even if you showed it a rubber snake)...yet for myself I love to watch all the lizards that have their 'territorial patch' in my garden....and  yet if you look at them closely...they're only snakes with legs really. But given the choice...I'll take lizards every time...(smile)

Effie

 

 

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This went up a tree in my garden a couple of days ago, unfortunately the light was from directly behind the snake and I couldn't get any good pictures.

[IMG]http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q73/unautremonde/Oddments/wws-g2.jpg[/IMG]

Chris

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Ah yes beautiful Chris...really stunning...but I just wish they wouldn't climb...I can cope with them on the ground...but up above my head...makes me shudder even if they are harmless.

Are they likely to come in the house...as I have all my doors open from dawn to dusk...and I really don't want to find that one's slipped under my sheets.

Several years ago in the UK...I took a small grass snake off our Siamese...I placed it in a container to show my husband...but it escaped in our property...I believed that it had found its way back outside...but three weeks later we found it under my bed...in a very dehydrated condition...with a dead mouse...(another gift from the cat)...I immediately put it in some water...with a drop of Rescue Remedy...and it drank and drank...and very quickly revived...so I let it go in a nearby meadow...but the thought that it had spent three weeks in our property before finally ending up under my bed...made me feel a little queasy to say the least.

Have a nice day

Effie of Aquitaine

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Hi Tag...I was really amazed at how these two love birds stood their ground...and having read Chris's post...'of how unusual it was to see them'...I realise that I missed a great opportunity to get some wonderful close up photos...as they certainly were very single minded with regard to mating there and then...and never mind who's watching...even the magpie didn't dampen their ardour!

Effie

Ps love your humour

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Thank you Chris...I am already  very familiar with your very interesting... and informative site...bless you.

I hope you won't mind my bending your ear...do these snakes remain in one area...(like the little sand lizards in my garden)...as I've seen them on both occasions not far from my little veg patch?

Effie

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..".do these snakes remain in one area...(like the little sand lizards in my garden"

They are unlikely to move far away, so yes, they will remain more or less in the vicinity, although if there is frequent human activity they will tend to move away a little, but this only a "tendency", they may see you as a friend and get used to you.[:D]

Chris

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Chris, they are very much like the Thompson tree snake aren't they? They love to climb trees and are not aggressive, but really lovely. Wonderful photos. 

I love the comment about teenagers. I don't remember being quite like that though, even if it were a long while ago???[+o(]

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