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.

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

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.

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

http://www.avisoft.co.uk/Photos/Hpim7847a.jpg

OMG! A Big Hairy Arm! Shock! Horror! ;-)

Al.

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

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

"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!

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

"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?
|
| --
| 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.


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.

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.

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

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

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

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)