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#1
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The snake
I am not particularly afraid of snakes, but I'm not an extreme snake
lover either, and I don't keep any snakey pets. Sure, I know some of them can hurt you, but by far most of them are quite harmless. I can positively identify the relatively few venomous snakes that live in this part of northern Florida. Anyway, this wasn't one of them. It was 3-4 ft long, and it was in the water. About the only thing that was dangerous would be a cottonmouth, and it was too sleek for that. A cottonmouth big enough to be that long would be rather fat also. Besides, as I got closer the head was all wrong and the snake was uniformly black except for it's white chin and throat and brown lips which made it most likely a southern black racer, but not being any sort of snake expert, this is only a guess. I stopped to watch it, but it seemed to want to play a game of who could stay still the longest, and it won when I got bored and went inside. Later that afternoon I was fussing around the pond again, and saw the snake again. It had made it about a quarter of the way around the pond (25-30 feet), but was still pretty intent on remaining mostly motionless, a game I didn't find too exciting. This morning to my surprise it was still there, head above water by the edge of the pond. Now I'm not especially worried about snakes, and I don't have any fish. There are some pretty big tadpoles, and some large swimming beetles I've seen, but it has got to be pretty slim pickings for a snake that size. The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? -- Galen Hekhuis Illiterate? Write for FREE help |
#2
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The snake
Hiss. (After the snake in Disney's Robin Hood cartoon.) k :-) (whose only interaction with a snake was when I threw a laundry basket at one) |
#3
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The snake
Galen Hekhuis wrote:
[ . . . ]The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? Nagaina! You do remember the story of Riki tiki tavi, don't you? -- Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families! Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! ! ~Semper Fi~ |
#4
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The snake
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:08:02 CST, Galen Hekhuis
wrote: it has got to be pretty slim pickings for a snake that size. The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? You might have small animals, like mice and voles that come to the pond to drink. Slurp for the snake. I'd suggest you call it Sssssusssssan. -- r.bc: vixen Minnow goddess, Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher. Almost entirely harmless. Really. http://www.visi.com/~cyli |
#5
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The snake
On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:55:07 CST, Cyli wrote:
You might have small animals, like mice and voles that come to the pond to drink. Slurp for the snake. That might indeed be it, the snake usually sits in a few inches of water, facing the shore. Sort of like a crocodile waiting for a wildebeest to take a drink in Africa, but on a much smaller scale. I'd suggest you call it Sssssusssssan. I probably ought to name it some gender less name. As soon as I named it Sssssusssssan it would probably turn out to be a Ssssssam. -- Galen Hekhuis "Mistakes were made" |
#6
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The snake
Galen Hekhuis wrote:
The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? Around our house, all snakes are named "Bob". Seriously. :-) I'm not sure where it came from, my that's what my wife and daughters have decided. Everything from the speckled kingsnake, the 7.5' rat snake, the 2 eastern coachwhips, and the 2 copperheads (plus about 8 other species). -- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes (also MSN IM) Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes |
#7
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The snake
Good grief! Your wife and daughters are tougher
than I. If I saw a snake like those I'd probably call it, "EEEEEEK!!!" |
#8
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The snake
On Apr 17, 3:08 pm, Galen Hekhuis wrote:
snip The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? If it just floats around maybe you could call it "Ssssssstick". Randy |
#9
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The snake
kthirtya wrote:
Good grief! Your wife and daughters are tougher than I. If I saw a snake like those I'd probably call it, "EEEEEEK!!!" hahahaha - true story follows Texas A&M (where I went to school and now work) has this annual project the students do every March called "The Big Event". Basically it involves the students - close to 5,000 of them, doing volunteer projects for folks who live in the community. It usually involves things like painting, landscaping, clearing brush, etc. 2 years ago, just as we were preparing to begin building our dream house, we had a group of them come out and clear the underbrush from a wooded area near the house. The Big Event organizers sent us an entire unit from a company of the Corps of Cadets. For those of you who are not familiar with Texas A&M, the Corps of Cadets is our version of ROTC - but here, the Corps are more than just a small group... Texas A&M puts more kids into the military every year than all universities except for the Naval and Army academies. I mention this so you get a picture of the guys that showed up at our house that morning - 20 young men, all in great physical shape, all with military discipline. Naturally this meant my 3 teen-aged daughters had to stick around to "help" :-) Actually, they were alot of help - being country girls, they aren't shy about getting dirty and doing the hard stuff - but I digress... Now for a description of the area we were going to clear out - this is basically a creek bottom that hadn't been touched in ~30 years. Lots of LARGE oak trees with an almost impenetrable thicket of stickers, Yaupon trees, and poison ivy. Basically the job was to leave all the large trees and clear out everything else. 3 hours later, this group of kids had an area cleared ~40 yards wide x 80 yards long. They were armed only with axes and clippers. Impressive. We were almost done when one of the bigger of these military-sized boys drops his ax and BOLTS out of the woods. Just as he hits the open pasture, I hear him yelling "SNAAAAAKE". At this, my middle daughter (16 at the time) runs TO where this kid had just vacated and starts moving the brush out of the way saying "where? Where?" Eventually a long, slender, all black snake bolts and heads to one of the bigger oak trees. This tree happens to have a large hollow at the bottom where a hive of honey bees have taken up residence (the bees didn't seem to mind the snake one bit). Being in a "safe place", the snake now relaxed and allowed us to get a really good look. Some of the corps guys who didn't run off: "what kind is it? Is it a cotton mouth?" Me: "No, it's way to skinny to be a cotton mouth" ...looking closer... "I'm not sure what kind it is, but it's not poisonous - the head is not angular and the eyes are round, not slitted". Daughter #2: "Ah man." Corps guy who ran off: "SHE'S UPSET THAT IT'S *NOT* POISONOUS???!!!" We later identified the snake as an Eastern Coachwhip. The next fall we found 2 copperheads on the property (the only poisonous ones we've found). Amy (dd#2) was upset that I wouldn't let her keep either for a pet. What can I say - she's her father's daughter! *VBG* -- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes (also MSN IM) Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes |
#10
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The snake
"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
... I am not particularly afraid of snakes, but I'm not an extreme snake lover either, and I don't keep any snakey pets. Sure, I know some of them can hurt you, but by far most of them are quite harmless. I can positively identify the relatively few venomous snakes that live in this part of northern Florida. Anyway, this wasn't one of them. It was 3-4 ft long, and it was in the water. About the only thing that was dangerous would be a cottonmouth, and it was too sleek for that. A cottonmouth big enough to be that long would be rather fat also. Besides, as I got closer the head was all wrong and the snake was uniformly black except for it's white chin and throat and brown lips which made it most likely a southern black racer, but not being any sort of snake expert, this is only a guess. I stopped to watch it, but it seemed to want to play a game of who could stay still the longest, and it won when I got bored and went inside. Later that afternoon I was fussing around the pond again, and saw the snake again. It had made it about a quarter of the way around the pond (25-30 feet), but was still pretty intent on remaining mostly motionless, a game I didn't find too exciting. This morning to my surprise it was still there, head above water by the edge of the pond. Now I'm not especially worried about snakes, and I don't have any fish. There are some pretty big tadpoles, and some large swimming beetles I've seen, but it has got to be pretty slim pickings for a snake that size. The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? -- Galen Hekhuis Illiterate? Write for FREE help You could name it Kurt. (movie ref). I'm not a snake expert, either, and I'm ashamed to admit I once killed a harmless rat snake (well, harmless to humans) before I could ID it. I've since saved quite a few rat snakes so maybe my karma has equalized... (but the Barn Swallows would disagree). Anyway, google is our friend. There are a few good sites for snake IDing that I've accessed previously. Based on your description, it looks like you are close on the ID: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herp...onstrictor.htm The really helpful guide starts he http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology...nakekey.htm#31 I've used it to ID Texas snakes. Gail near San Antonio TX |
#11
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The snake
randyinaloha wrote:
On Apr 17, 3:08 pm, Galen Hekhuis wrote: snip The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? If it just floats around maybe you could call it "Ssssssstick". Randy How about "Hissing Sid" - if a boy it is Sidney, if a girl it is Sidone....(pronounced Sid own ee) Gill |
#12
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The snake
In article
, "Gail Futoran" wrote: "Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message ... I am not particularly afraid of snakes, but I'm not an extreme snake lover either, and I don't keep any snakey pets. Sure, I know some of them can hurt you, but by far most of them are quite harmless. I can positively identify the relatively few venomous snakes that live in this part of northern Florida. Anyway, this wasn't one of them. It was 3-4 ft long, and it was in the water. About the only thing that was dangerous would be a cottonmouth, and it was too sleek for that. A cottonmouth big enough to be that long would be rather fat also. Besides, as I got closer the head was all wrong and the snake was uniformly black except for it's white chin and throat and brown lips which made it most likely a southern black racer, but not being any sort of snake expert, this is only a guess. I stopped to watch it, but it seemed to want to play a game of who could stay still the longest, and it won when I got bored and went inside. Later that afternoon I was fussing around the pond again, and saw the snake again. It had made it about a quarter of the way around the pond (25-30 feet), but was still pretty intent on remaining mostly motionless, a game I didn't find too exciting. This morning to my surprise it was still there, head above water by the edge of the pond. Now I'm not especially worried about snakes, and I don't have any fish. There are some pretty big tadpoles, and some large swimming beetles I've seen, but it has got to be pretty slim pickings for a snake that size. The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? -- Galen Hekhuis Illiterate? Write for FREE help You could name it Kurt. (movie ref). Oh thank you... -- To reply by email, remove the word "space" |
#13
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The snake
"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
... I am not particularly afraid of snakes, but I'm not an extreme snake lover either, and I don't keep any snakey pets. Sure, I know some of them can hurt you, but by far most of them are quite harmless. I can positively identify the relatively few venomous snakes that live in this part of northern Florida. Anyway, this wasn't one of them. It was 3-4 ft long, and it was in the water. About the only thing that was dangerous would be a cottonmouth, and it was too sleek for that. A cottonmouth big enough to be that long would be rather fat also. Besides, as I got closer the head was all wrong and the snake was uniformly black except for it's white chin and throat and brown lips which made it most likely a southern black racer, but not being any sort of snake expert, this is only a guess. I stopped to watch it, but it seemed to want to play a game of who could stay still the longest, and it won when I got bored and went inside. Later that afternoon I was fussing around the pond again, and saw the snake again. It had made it about a quarter of the way around the pond (25-30 feet), but was still pretty intent on remaining mostly motionless, a game I didn't find too exciting. This morning to my surprise it was still there, head above water by the edge of the pond. Now I'm not especially worried about snakes, and I don't have any fish. There are some pretty big tadpoles, and some large swimming beetles I've seen, but it has got to be pretty slim pickings for a snake that size. The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? -- Galen Hekhuis Illiterate? Write for FREE help Name? No arms? No legs? In the water? BOB! |
#14
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The snake
On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:58:48 CST, Chris Barnes wrote:
The next fall we found 2 copperheads on the property (the only poisonous ones we've found). Amy (dd#2) was upset that I wouldn't let her keep either for a pet. What can I say - she's her father's daughter! *VBG* I can relate to that, only I never brought home anything poisonous... but middle son brought me home a baby rattler in a peanut butter jar when he was 8. I was NOT amused. That snake spent the evening in the frig. and then took a ride in a cooler with an ice pack and was set free in a desert area about 40 miles away. ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
#15
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The snake
"Cyli" wrote in message ... On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:08:02 CST, Galen Hekhuis wrote: it has got to be pretty slim pickings for a snake that size. The question is, if it hangs around, what do y'all suggest I name it? You might have small animals, like mice and voles that come to the pond to drink. Slurp for the snake. I'd suggest you call it Sssssusssssan. -- r.bc: vixen Minnow goddess, Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher. Almost entirely harmless. Really. http://www.visi.com/~cyli I like that. Better than SsssorcereSSSS: animal hypnotist. Hi Cyli!!! Fancy meeting you here! kat ^.^ in Rhinelander |
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