Snake!

[pooks]

I'd freak over a large snake, myself. Friends were hiking one spring and a large rattler was stretched across the path, sunning itself. Probably fresh from hibernation. They finally threw rocks at it until it moved on.

I would have turned around, gone the other way, and "seen" snakes stirring all around me the entire way. The friends said it was six miles back, and two miles forward, and they didn't want to backtrack.

Not me. I'd have made that six miles in record speed and I wouldn't have heaved rocks at the snake! Once it moved off the path, I asked, how did you know it wasn't just in the weeds, coiled?

They shrugged.

Gah!

My husband says if it had a short stubby tail, thick body, triangular head, it was probably a water moccasin. But there are LOTS of different snakes -- I once had a herpetologist tell me that most snakes people think are moccasins aren't. Wikipedia supports that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonmouth

I am such a freak about snakes that if I'm flipping through a magazine and suddenly hit a picture of a coiled snake, or especially one with it's fangs exposed -- oh heck, I don't really have to see that much detail -- I will shriek and toss the magazine on the floor. It's instinctual -- I wish I could stop it. If I know there are pics of snakes I can steel myself for it, but it's the surprise that kills me.

I know they're important to the ecosystem. I don't want them all dead. I just don't want to look at them.

And I would prefer to never encounter one. Ever.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Probably just a harmless black snake.

[Trekhawk]

I know they're important to the ecosystem. I don't want them all dead. I just don't want to look at them.

And I would prefer to never encounter one. Ever.

LOL - You need to move to NZ Pooks - no snakes there.

[Lise]

LOL - You need to move to NZ Pooks - no snakes there.

Really? How come?

[Trekhawk]

Really? How come?

Not sure Lise - best we ask a Kiwi. Over the water in Aust we have bl**dy heaps of them.

Come on all you Kiwi girls we are waiting for our natural history lesson.

[light_sabe_r]

LOL - You need to move to NZ Pooks - no snakes there.

I have a theory on that...

St PAT (the guy responsible for getting us all drunk on Mar 15 every year) apparently drove all the snakes outta ireland right? So he made a visit there. He drove all the snakes outta NZ... The nearest land mass is AUSTRALIA so they all wound up here.

Yes... We've got like 9 out of 10 of the world's most venomous snakes don't we????? They've all come over fro Ireland and NZ... Just the like the rest of our human population has :P

On holidays up in NQ I went jogging with my cousin near her Hubby's mango farm. She always has a dog go with her to ward of the brown snakes... (the deadliest) Not exactly the most RELAXING jog you could ever go on... More like "ARGH!!! what was that???"

I've seen a few carpet pythons on my rides in the bush on the weekends... but nothing too deadly round here in Brissie.

[Aggie_Ama]

Well I did some Googling and it appears I was right to stay away. Based on the ones that are common to this area and the size, it looked the most like a Cottonmouth. Most of the other black snakes in the area have some sort of distinctive marking (red or orange). This guy had nothing very distinctive. Cottonmouths are known to attack, I am glad he didn't get mad at the woman stomping her feet and come after us.

I have no problem letting snakes do their thing. I do not want them anywhere near me. Some people don't like cats, dogs, pigs- I don't like snakes. They freak me out! I wouldn't even want to be close enough to harm one, so they are safe near me.