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Old 18-04-2007, 12:08 AM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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

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Old 18-04-2007, 12:26 AM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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)

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Old 18-04-2007, 07:34 AM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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?

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Old 18-04-2007, 10:55 AM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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

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Old 18-04-2007, 04:14 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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"



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Old 18-04-2007, 05:24 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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

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Old 18-04-2007, 07:25 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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!!!"

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Old 18-04-2007, 08:21 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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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

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Old 18-04-2007, 08:58 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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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

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Old 18-04-2007, 10:04 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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



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Old 18-04-2007, 10:44 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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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

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Old 18-04-2007, 11:32 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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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"

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Old 19-04-2007, 03:49 AM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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!

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Old 19-04-2007, 05:25 AM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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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

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Old 19-04-2007, 05:14 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated
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Default 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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