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Garden Terror!
Yesterday while hand weeding I moved this leaf aside and my heart
stopped for a moment as encountered this little horror. I pulled my hand back sharply, then realised the offending object was quite harmless. Anyone recognise it ;-) ? I think the brain must be hard-wired to give reflex responses on seeing certain things! http://www.avisoft.co.uk/Photos/Hpim7847a.jpg Anyone else been startled by anything unexpected in the garden? -- David in Normandy. To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted by a filter and not reach my inbox. |
Garden Terror!
On Jun 21, 7:09*pm, David in Normandy
wrote: Yesterday while hand weeding I moved this leaf aside and my heart stopped for a moment as encountered this little horror. I pulled my hand back sharply, then realised the offending object was quite harmless. Anyone recognise it ;-) ? I think the brain must be hard-wired to give reflex responses on seeing certain things! http://www.avisoft.co.uk/Photos/Hpim7847a.jpg Anyone else been startled by anything unexpected in the garden? -- David in Normandy. * * *To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the * *subject line, or it will be automatically deleted * *by a filter and not reach my inbox. An old plant stalk? Judith |
Garden Terror!
Judith in France wrote:
An old plant stalk? Just a cabbage stalk. It was laying flat on the ground and from the perspective I saw it, only part of its length was visible, giving the illusion of it being some sort of snake lurking under the leaf - for a second anyway. I felt a little silly afterwards. I think there must be some sort of "it-looks-like-a-snake" reflex action inbuilt into human instinct. -- David in Normandy. To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted by a filter and not reach my inbox. |
Garden Terror!
On 2009-06-21 19:09:03 +0100, David in Normandy
said: Yesterday while hand weeding I moved this leaf aside and my heart stopped for a moment as encountered this little horror. I pulled my hand back sharply, then realised the offending object was quite harmless. Anyone recognise it ;-) ? I think the brain must be hard-wired to give reflex responses on seeing certain things! http://www.avisoft.co.uk/Photos/Hpim7847a.jpg Anyone else been startled by anything unexpected in the garden? Someone who works for us turned over a piece of cardboard up near the compost heap the other day and a huge grass snake slithered away from her. Hard to tell who was more startled but as she loves snakes, she was also very pleased! Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! -- -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics. South Devon |
Garden Terror!
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Garden Terror!
Sacha writes
Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! I was wandering along a path in Portugal when I cam across the crumpled skin of an adder-type snake lying across the path (black diamonds along the whole length). 'Husband would like that' I thought, then some cautious instinct kicked in, and I reached out very carefully with the toe of my boot and touched the tip of the tail, whereupon the 'skin' headed into the undergrowth at a rate of knots! -- Kay |
Garden Terror!
K wrote:
Sacha writes Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! I was wandering along a path in Portugal when I cam across the crumpled skin of an adder-type snake lying across the path (black diamonds along the whole length). 'Husband would like that' I thought, then some cautious instinct kicked in, and I reached out very carefully with the toe of my boot and touched the tip of the tail, whereupon the 'skin' headed into the undergrowth at a rate of knots! ackkkkkkkkkkkk |
Garden Terror!
"David in Normandy" wrote in message ... Yesterday while hand weeding I moved this leaf aside and my heart stopped for a moment as encountered this little horror. I pulled my hand back sharply, then realised the offending object was quite harmless. Anyone recognise it ;-) ? I think the brain must be hard-wired to give reflex responses on seeing certain things! http://www.avisoft.co.uk/Photos/Hpim7847a.jpg Anyone else been startled by anything unexpected in the garden? Good grief, it's the lesser-spotted, greater-striped brassica snake! |
Garden Terror!
On 2009-06-21 20:39:26 +0100, K said:
Sacha writes Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! I was wandering along a path in Portugal when I cam across the crumpled skin of an adder-type snake lying across the path (black diamonds along the whole length). 'Husband would like that' I thought, then some cautious instinct kicked in, and I reached out very carefully with the toe of my boot and touched the tip of the tail, whereupon the 'skin' headed into the undergrowth at a rate of knots! Shudder! As David says, there must be some atavistic instinct that prevails on these rare occasions! My step-daughter (heavily involved in horsey world) was telling us today that horses are sometimes bitten by adders in warm weather because the horses are happily grazing and plonk a hoof on or near a snake which rears up and bites the horse on the mouth or 'nose'. Vets come out immediately and inject the antidote as horses can be very allergic. -- -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics. South Devon |
Garden Terror!
On Jun 21, 10:54*pm, "Angela" wrote:
We have protected *slow worms here and my cat is constantly bringing them home, so I often find them in the lounge or kitchen. *The longest was 14 inches. *Fortunatly as they don't move quickly they are not much fun to play with so he doesn't harm them, fortunately as they are pretty rare! *Gave a fright first time I saw one, they do look just like a snake. One of my cats is very friendly and wants to play with any creature that comes into the garden. He is not a hunter and ignores birds pecking away on the grass only a few feet away from him. But we do occasionaly get grass snakes in the garden. He will sit and watch them and then try to pat them with his paw - immediately the snake will rear up to strike and Ziggy will then kill them in a flash. He does it so quickly that it is hard to see how he does it but it is by biting just below the head. |
Garden Terror!
Ophelia writes
K wrote: Sacha writes Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! I was wandering along a path in Portugal when I cam across the crumpled skin of an adder-type snake lying across the path (black diamonds along the whole length). 'Husband would like that' I thought, then some cautious instinct kicked in, and I reached out very carefully with the toe of my boot and touched the tip of the tail, whereupon the 'skin' headed into the undergrowth at a rate of knots! ackkkkkkkkkkkk Well, at least it went *that* way - I tried to get a photo, but it was too quick for me. -- Kay |
Garden Terror!
Angela writes
We have protected slow worms here and my cat is constantly bringing them home, so I often find them in the lounge or kitchen. The longest was 14 inches. Fortunatly as they don't move quickly they are not much fun to play with so he doesn't harm them, fortunately as they are pretty rare! Gave a fright first time I saw one, they do look just like a snake. We had them when we were in Kent. They'd always go to ground under cushions - quite a surprise wen you lifted the cushion. Very pretty things - I loved having them around. And much easier to see in the house than in the garden ;-) -- Kay |
Garden Terror!
In message , K
writes Ophelia writes K wrote: Sacha writes Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! I was wandering along a path in Portugal when I cam across the crumpled skin of an adder-type snake lying across the path (black diamonds along the whole length). 'Husband would like that' I thought, then some cautious instinct kicked in, and I reached out very carefully with the toe of my boot and touched the tip of the tail, whereupon the 'skin' headed into the undergrowth at a rate of knots! ackkkkkkkkkkkk Well, at least it went *that* way - I tried to get a photo, but it was too quick for me. I would have screamed. -- June Hughes |
Garden Terror!
K wrote:
Ophelia writes K wrote: Sacha writes Later, she found the sloughed skin and brought it in which gave me a bit of a start when I found it on the window sill in the back corridor! I was wandering along a path in Portugal when I cam across the crumpled skin of an adder-type snake lying across the path (black diamonds along the whole length). 'Husband would like that' I thought, then some cautious instinct kicked in, and I reached out very carefully with the toe of my boot and touched the tip of the tail, whereupon the 'skin' headed into the undergrowth at a rate of knots! ackkkkkkkkkkkk Well, at least it went *that* way - I tried to get a photo, but it was too quick for me. Good thing too if you ask me:)) |
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