Gopher Snake

[MissMia]

He was in my front yard this afternoon. First time this year I've seen a snake, so I grabbed the camera.

Peek-a-boo!
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j252/cklawrie/GS-DSC_0018-2-web.jpg

I left him alone after this shot. He'd been a good sport about letting me photograph him.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j252/cklawrie/GS-DSC_0042-web.jpg

Thanks for looking!

[PhotoJet]

This is an interesting response to seeing a snake. :mrgreen:

I have to say that my first response would have been to grab a shovel, a rake, or perhaps a 357 Magnum... :batterup::batterup::batterup:

I mean not that I have anything against snakes... I just hate them worse than Terri hates clowns. :whip::whip:

[MissMia]

This is an interesting response to seeing a snake. :mrgreen:

I have to say that my first response would have been to grab a shovel, a rake, or perhaps a 357 Magnum... :batterup::batterup::batterup:

I mean not that I have anything against snakes... I just hate them worse than Terri hates clowns. :whip::whip:

He's a good snake, not a rattle snake. I only kill the venomous ones! ;)

I did put the word 'snake' in the title in case anyone didn't like them. :-)

[Chris of Arabia]

Like the first one a lot. We rarely see anything you would remotely call wildlife in Saudi.

[mitica100]

Love that shallow DOF on the first one! Cool pictures Christina!

[LaFoto]

Focus is so PERFECT in the first!
And having snakes who LIVE WITH US HERE IN OUR HOME (pet snakes my daughter keeps in her terrarium), my first reaction would never be to run for a shovel or even a Magnum (would have a hard time FINDING one...), but for my camera, too! :D (Problem with me would be: I wouldn't know to tell a venemous snake from a harmless one).

[mitica100]

(Problem with me would be: I wouldn't know to tell a venemous snake from a harmless one).

That's easy!... The venomous one kills you!:biglaugh:

Seriously, there are many snake varieties here in the Southwest US. The Gopher snakes are easily recognized, as they don't quite blend totally with the environment. The Rattlesnake, on the other hand, is hard to tell from a rock or the ground. If you see a snake on the ground is most likely to be a non-venomous type. Snakes don't really worry me, it's the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse spiders that I don't want to see.

[Terri]

My spider phobia is second only to the clown thing. I WILL turn and run from a spider once it's a certain size.

But I do like snakes! :razz: I think it's fun to pick them up and have them curl their tails around your wrist. You can hold them for a while and then let them go....cute to watch them slithering away. Rolleimaniac just about decompensated the first time he watched me grabbing up a snake from our yard. I was commanded never to do that again without proper ID. Of course he's right, but by then they've gotten away! :irked:

These are very good shots, MissMia. :thumbup:

[MissMia]

Like the first one a lot. We rarely see anything you would remotely call wildlife in Saudi.

Thanks Chris!

Love that shallow DOF on the first one! Cool pictures Christina!

Thanks D!

Focus is so PERFECT in the first!
And having snakes who LIVE WITH US HERE IN OUR HOME (pet snakes my daughter keeps in her terrarium), my first reaction would never be to run for a shovel or even a Magnum (would have a hard time FINDING one...), but for my camera, too! :D (Problem with me would be: I wouldn't know to tell a venemous snake from a harmless one).

Thank you Corinna! I always look at the tail to see if it has rattles :sexywink: I also keep a book on reptiles in the living room so I can quickly identify them.

That's easy!... The venomous one kills you!:biglaugh:

Seriously, there are many snake varieties here in the Southwest US. The Gopher snakes are easily recognized, as they don't quite blend totally with the environment. The Rattlesnake, on the other hand, is hard to tell from a rock or the ground. If you see a snake on the ground is most likely to be a non-venomous type. Snakes don't really worry me, it's the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse spiders that I don't want to see.

Very true!

My spider phobia is second only to the clown thing. I WILL turn and run from a spider once it's a certain size.

But I do like snakes! :razz: I think it's fun to pick them up and have them curl their tails around your wrist. You can hold them for a while and then let them go....cute to watch them slithering away. Rolleimaniac just about decompensated the first time he watched me grabbing up a snake from our yard. I was commanded never to do that again without proper ID. Of course he's right, but by then they've gotten away! :irked:

These are very good shots, MissMia. :thumbup:

Thanks Terri! I'm not brave enough to pick them up, but I like watching them wander around the yard.

[PhotoJet]

My spider phobia is second only to the clown thing. I WILL turn and run from a spider once it's a certain size.

But I do like snakes! :razz: I think it's fun to pick them up and have them curl their tails around your wrist. You can hold them for a while and then let them go....cute to watch them slithering away. Rolleimaniac just about decompensated the first time he watched me grabbing up a snake from our yard. I was commanded never to do that again without proper ID. Of course he's right, but by then they've gotten away! :irked:

These are very good shots, MissMia. :thumbup:

Ok... my stomach's turning here! :puke::puke:

[Antarctican]

Whoa, good shots! I like the dof you chose in the first...that beady eye really pops out at you. A little 'too' lifelike ("Cleanup on aisle 5"). And the second one is scary because it looks coiled and ready to strike out at you. It also looks, from the number and thickness of the coils, to have been fairly big. What was it, about 3-4 feet long?

[LaFoto]

(Would you have guessed, Anty, that Sabine's two snakes are nearing their 6 ft in length??? And indeed, they are!)

[Antarctican]

SIX FEET???!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. I never would have thought they would get that big! Do you need bigger terrariums for them now?

[Terri]

Ya know, I love the critters, but would prefer seeing them out in the grass.

Dunno about a couple of 6-foot long guys in my house. I think I would fear for the cat! :shock:

Corinna, you'll have to get Sabine to pose with them and start a new thread with those pictures! That is, if she's not afraid to handle them - I might be!

[LaFoto]

Sabine handles her snakes easily. They are quite tame. She loves to play with them. Anty knows. She played with them, too (if only for the shortest of time :D). That was a little less than a year ago when they were still smaller. But they love to eat, and therefore grow. Eventually a larger terrarium might be on the agenda, though we still hope they'll just STOP GROWING when they realise they're filling up that terrarium - we were told they would! They are very SLIM snakes, though, not to be compared to the body sizes of pythons, for example.

And Sabine is en route to Florida at the moment, so there is no chance for me to take any "newest" photos of herself handling her snakes. (She's still stranded at Frankfurt Airport, though, from what I learned through her text message, the flight to Detroit leaving late ... but that may make their wait at Detroit Airport - a scheduled 6 hours - shorter, who knows).

Oh dear. Sorry Christina. This thread has been seriously derailed.
I'll start a new one with pics of Sabine's snakes now!

[Chiller]

Im so glad we dont have things like this in these parts, and I dont know if there is such a thing as a snowsnake. :biglaugh: Great images tho.

[MissMia]

Whoa, good shots! I like the dof you chose in the first...that beady eye really pops out at you. A little 'too' lifelike ("Cleanup on aisle 5"). And the second one is scary because it looks coiled and ready to strike out at you. It also looks, from the number and thickness of the coils, to have been fairly big. What was it, about 3-4 feet long?

Thanks Anty! I was pretty close to him in the first shot. In the second shot he was about to strike, but there was a plant between us. ;) I left him alone after that! I never would had been so close if he were a rattler!

Oh dear. Sorry Christina. This thread has been seriously derailed. I'll start a new one with pics of Sabine's snakes now!

No worries Corinna! :goodvibes:

Im so glad we dont have things like this in these parts, and I dont know if there is such a thing as a snowsnake. :biglaugh: Great images tho.

That is the last response I thought I would get from you! :lol: Thanks Chiller!

[PhotoJet]

Yeah, see... that's my point... poisonous or not, it was "about to strike." ;) hahaha

[René]

Wow, I am kinda forgetting these things live there in the U.S. - I better watch out when I move to the Midwest next year. My first response would have been "Cool, someone left a snakeskin belt in the yard...." And with my next response would have been "aaaaah get it off me!!!!!!"

[MissMia]

Yeah, see... that's my point... poisonous or not, it was "about to strike." ;) hahaha

It was, but that was only after I chased him around the yard for 15 minutes. :big grin:

Wow, I am kinda forgetting these things live there in the U.S. - I better watch out when I move to the Midwest next year. My first response would have been "Cool, someone left a snakeskin belt in the yard...." And with my next response would have been "aaaaah get it off me!!!!!!"

You have to watch out for the ones with rattles on them! They do make pretty belts. :sexywink:

[Antarctican]

I'm with Chiller on this one....I'm glad we don't have big snakes in these parts (although there are Massasauga rattlers (http://www.outdooradventurecanada.com/wildthings-v1-4.htm) within an hour or two drive of the city. I came across one once and it rattled at me. I think I set a new sprint record)
http://static.keebali.com/paw-talk.net/forums/images/smilies/oct/snake.gif

[kundalini]

Nice shots MM.

I really like the peek-a-boo shot the most. Good on ya for chasing it around the yard with a camera rather than a shovel. I'm a little worried because we don't see nearly as many frogs and snakes as there used to be. Locally, the only ones to be concerned about are the Copperhead and Mocassin (Cottonmouth). In the mountains, add on Timber Rattlers and the coastal areas have Coral snakes.

[MissMia]

I'm with Chiller on this one....I'm glad we don't have big snakes in these parts (although there are Massasauga rattlers (http://www.outdooradventurecanada.com/wildthings-v1-4.htm) within an hour or two drive of the city. I came across one once and it rattled at me. I think I set a new sprint record)
http://static.keebali.com/paw-talk.net/forums/images/smilies/oct/snake.gif

I do live in the Wild West! :lol:

Nice shots MM.

I really like the peek-a-boo shot the most. Good on ya for chasing it around the yard with a camera rather than a shovel. I'm a little worried because we don't see nearly as many frogs and snakes as there used to be. Locally, the only ones to be concerned about are the Copperhead and Mocassin (Cottonmouth). In the mountains, add on Timber Rattlers and the coastal areas have Coral snakes.

Thanks K!