This afternoon I was gardening and happened to glance at the pond.
There was a snake, about 2' 6'' long, very slender and with yellow colouring each side of it's jaws sat on top of the water looking at a frog.
I had the hose pipe in my hand an instinct was to squirt it with a sharp jet of water.
It swam away very fast and went under water.
I would like to be sure it is only a grass snake but although I have googled the images of grass snakes it doesn't seem to fit with what I saw.
Has anyone got an image of one?
I'm also not happy about it eating frogs as we have loads of them and love having them around.
My garden is cottage garden style with some tall plants that I have to wander between to weed and dead head the flowers and I'm now uneasy about doing that in shorts and flip flops:)
In other words, I don't like snakes!
Help please....and the mole is back again:(
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Mon 9 May 11 at 17:36
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Stick it on the bbq. job sorted.
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I'm not going near it!
Pat
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We only have three snakes in the UK
The Adder, the Smooth Snake and the Grass snake.
With a mustard colour behind the jaw hinges and cheeks, yours was a grass snake. Good swimmer, likes frogs. Not as chums but as in food.
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Stick your garden fork through it and lob it on the bbq.
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Good all round British snake that !
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>>We only have three snakes in the UK
What about those that may have escaped from private collections, or hitched a lift in from abroad on a truck?
Last edited by: bathtub tom {p} on Mon 9 May 11 at 17:48
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That's what I'm worried about Tubby Tommy
Pat
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Sounds like yer common or garden (sorry) grass snake to me. There's loads around here but the French kill them on sight, which seems a shame to me.
The ones round here will, if challenged, sometimes rear up at you but as they aren't poisonous all you get is a scare. So the neighbours tell me...
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Oh good lord, this is not the Amazon. It sounds like a grass snake, it looks like a grass snake, and if you get down and dirty with it, it will smell like a grass snake.
Has to be said tho, the warm dry spring has been a delight for the snakes, many more seen this year than previous years,
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Its a perfectly harmless grass snake. They are particularly partial to a frog supper. All reptiles in the UK are protected species so just count yourself lucky that you have seen one. Haven't seen one for years.
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>>the warm dry spring has been a delight for the snakes, <<
Not too good for Vipers tho`, being Adders they can`t multiply too well!!
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I suppose I "asped" for that
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>> and the mole is back again:(
Perhaps the snake will eat that instead of the frogs.
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I want to see the mole come up in the pond.
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Try Duncton wood, they managed the Thames.
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I shot a mole once. Both barrels. Quite satisfying. Stake out sort of thing involving my terrace / balcony, a deck chair, a flask and a long wait but I got him. Or if I didn't he didn't come back. Had to re-seed that bit of grass though.
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I did once see what I first thought was a snake in our pond, and it turned out to be a young eel. Apparently they travel long distances overland in wet weather, even though they are fish.
Cats are good at getting moles. Stake-outs are their speciality.
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I shot a mole once......
You weren't called Jasper Carrott in a previous life were you Humph?
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Feeding one of the local feral cats, so he set up home in our garden, seems to have sorted out our mole problem of many years' standing (I used to call one area 'Moleditz' - stolen from Michael Bentine). But I'm not sure now because some huge, tropical-looking weeds have sprouted out of one bonfire patch and the neighbours say they repel moles. I don't want to hijack the thread but has anyone ever heard of this?
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My late mother-in-law used to get a mole man to come and keep them down. He had the charming and somehow suitable name Voak.
They are sporadically a nuisance here, capable of appearing overnight and turning a croquet lawn into a volcanic landscape with runs. In the daytime they tend to make new hills at certain times of day, and you can lie in wait for them and give the new, growing molehill both barrels. You have to keep quiet and be patient, so I've never done it myself.
On the OP, I am surprised Pat, who likes animals, has it in for snakes. They are attractive creatures except when they are eating. Their skin feels nice too.
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we have seen an adder recently near the hedgeline in the filed at the bottom of the gasrden and there are always slow worms around basking in hte sun
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I suppose it depends on how many frogs you have, though you do tend to get lots, especially when young. They like to bask in the sun on warm days, and you often don't realise it is present until it shoots off having been disturbed by your footprints. They are harmless though they can spray urine at you if disturbed. Besides frogs, they will eat fish and mice, perhaps even baby rats, and nestlings. I've seen loads, and love the things. In my view a grass snake is a wonderful thing to have.
I've found what looks like a fox den and fox tracks in my garden. How about doing a swap?
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OMG. Person living in countryside sees wild animal.
Dial 999.
Call the Prime Minister.
Or move to the City... where there will only be rats, foxes and cats. Moths, and bedbugs too.
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>> Or move to the City... where there will only be rats, foxes and cats. Moths,
>> and bedbugs too.
And mice. I once had mice. Very cute, but dirty.
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However unfairly Mapmaker, you just have to mock.
IMHO wild animals are far nicer that people...even snakes.
Pat
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>>
>> IMHO wild animals are far nicer that people..
>>
Try saying that in Florida as the crocodiles emerge from the pond and close in on your sun-lounger :)
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...Try saying that in Florida as the crocodiles emerge from the pond and close in on your sun-lounger :)...
That's a good tip - saying something nice to the croc might persuade it to eat somebody else.
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No, it just indicates to the croc you are alive, and hence fresh from the oven.
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...No, it just indicates to the croc you are alive, and hence fresh from the oven...
Most living things respond to a bit of sweet talk, Zero.
Apart from you, of course.
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Never smile at a Crocodile.
Wise words.
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The croc is one of the few animals to make it through from the age of dinosaurs relatively unchanged.
For very good reasons, it needed no changes to excel at its two primary goals in life, Survival and Predatory hunting. Soothing words is a bit infective.
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Cliff Pope said:
>> Try saying that in Florida as the crocodiles emerge from the pond and close in
>> on your sun-lounger :)
Highly improbable as the crocodile is quite rare in Florida. The alligator on the other hand is common. although I am told that they tend to flee rather than attack. Not that I would test that idea, just in case someone forgot to tell the alligator.
Snakes on the other hand are an issue in Florida.
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There is however a ring of truth in his mocking tho Pat. You are being a bit selective in your love of all things country. Drive off the snake to save the Frogs? The frogs are only there as part of the food chain, its just they are a tad lower than the snake on the Menu Prix Fixe.
It seems to me to be a case of driving off snow white for the sake of the ugly sisters!
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 10 May 11 at 13:45
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To be fair a fear of snakes is something that most humans seem to have from birth, rather like the fear of heights, and given that we evolved over millions of years on the savannah in Africa you can see that it makes complete sense from a survival point of view.
You have to learn to like them!
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>> However unfairly Mapmaker, you just have to mock. Pat
I don't always mock, and I'm sure you'll agree that this time it is not unfair!
Grass snakes are particularly partial to frogs, so if you don't want the snakes, get rid of the frogs...
They are not particularly common these days owing to destruction of frog-friendly habitat. A pat on the back for you!
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Tue 10 May 11 at 15:07
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>> Or move to the City... where there will only be rats, foxes and cats.
Of which cats are both the most common and the biggest pest, to man and other creatures.
Acursed blighters.
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Alanović I cannot agree with you. Since acquiring a cat (he acquired me, actually) I have not seen any evidence of mice or rats which is the first time in my time in London. Cats = no rats/mice. Strangely he doesn't seem to touch the birds, I have in my garden, a nest of robin chicks, one of great tit chicks and a nesting blackbird.
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Cats are a mixed blessing. Undoubtedly they will get rid of mice , although ours use to bring in the mice alive and I used to have to set traps in the kitchen to kill them. She's getting on a bit now and no longer has the energy. On the downside next-door's cats (why do people now have 2 or 3 ?), use my garden as a a toilet thus making it impossible to plant seeds.
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Our cats have picked up the idea that the kitchen is the place for eating, so they bring all their prey back there. We often find the remains of rabbits, rats, mice, and sometimes squirrels. Often they like to bring it back live and then chase it around a bit first. I suspect any resident mice we have had have been brought in by the cats and then lost.
I think they lose interest in moles having caught them, perhaps because moles are easily shocked and die quickly, so are not such fun.
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>> Alanovic I cannot agree with you.
Well, I didn't mean that cats were a pest to their owners. But rather to their owner's neighbours. I consider the blasted things an utter plague and curse. Out of years of personal experience putting up with the blighters.
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Agree with Alanovich.
Two next door, one diagonally opposite and a pair of Burmese over in the corner. All compete to use my front border as a toilet and feathers and mess on the lawn attest to their hunting.
But what's really rankled is that twice the blighters huve tried to climb on my tent while it's been up on the lawn for cleaning. Damage was patchable on both occasions but I dare not leave it unattended. Fortunately it's come home bone dry from the last few trips.
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Cats don't even like or respect their owners. They just like their tin openers. Then, if they come across some other home with a better tin opener, they're off like a shot, taking advantage of the next mug.
Of all the excellent reasons for keeping a dog, scaring off feline nuisances is one of the best.
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>> Cats don't even like or respect their owners. They just like their tin openers.
:)
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>> and a pair of Burmese over in the corner
We've got one of those. I can all but guarantee your neighbours who look after these suffer. :-)
Good cats in a lot of ways, they're very affectionate, retain kitten behaviour throughout their adult life, sleep very little for a cat, intelligent.
Terrible cats in other ways, demanding of affection, forceful at times. Think of a kitten on it's mad half hour scooting about at 90mph, now add in the ability to jump and climb in high places coupled with unlimited energy, you never get a break because they never sleep and they're far too intelligent for their own good, opening doors in either direction represents no problem and the fridge is fair game when peckish - he just doesn't close the door afterwards.
Brought home a rabbit which he had disabled but not killed the other day, thankfully we were in at the time so it was put out of its misery rapidly but left me feeling terrible.
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The cats probably don't like you either Alanovic....I find it puzzling that they like Mapmaker:)
I would never harm the snake and if it catches the frogs then so be it, however I shall deter it if I get the chance, just as I distract the cats when they start 'setting' a bird or try and catch the mole.
They do have an excuse, they're old and content to watch the soil move these days.
Why do cat owners have more than one..three times the please, or in our case they were rescue cats and at 11 years old they had been together all their life, so who could part them?
The RSPCA gave us a BOGOF and we only had to pay £75 each for two of them!
Pat
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>> The cats probably don't like you either Alanovic....
Au contraire. They positively make a bee line for me. They know I hate them, and have an allergy to their revolting, stench filled fur. They do it deliberately.
Without fail, if I enter a house with a cat, the hideous monster immediately starts rubbing itself up my legs and jumping on my lap, accompanied by deep, incessant purring. I'm a cat magnet.
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I have the great good fortune to quite like dogs and cats, although I reserve the right to dislike individuals of either category.
Cats are no problem in the country or town provided they have access to the outdoors. I can see that keen gardeners in densely-populated areas might have their freshly-turned flowerbeds desecrated annoyingly often, but I don't do gardening so I don't mind about that. Cats are anyway fairly discreet in their excreting habits.
In the country though some dog owners can be a problem. I don't mean harrying sheep or cattle, I mean allowing their dogs to crap on paths on other people's private land. Personally I think requiring owners to pick it up, as in towns, is going a bit far (although I know people who think they should). But what prevents these people from shooing the beast into the bracken or nettles so that the relic will biodegrade before anyone risks treading in it?
Bad manners I think. Carphounds, literally.
:o}
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>> Cats
>> are anyway fairly discreet in their excreting habits.
Tell that to my ex-neighbour's 5 cats who used to climb in to the herb pots on my patio in order to defecate in the lovely fresh compost therein, right in front of my french windows.
Discreet? Brazen, more like.
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>>>immediately starts rubbing itself up my legs and jumping on my lap, accompanied by deep, incessant purring.<<<<
Mods cancel this post - BBD will get excited - or tell us he has been there already in Fulham:)
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>> >> The cats probably don't like you either Alanovic....
>>
>> Au contraire. They positively make a bee line for me. They know I hate them,
>> and have an allergy to their revolting, stench filled fur. They do it deliberately.
Mr Cat Magnet, I cannot decide whether to click the thumbs up, or the red button...! ;)
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Ha! Spread confusion in the enemy camp! It's working!
;-)
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Mr Cat Magnet? nah his attraction is his smell.
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Perhaps I should stop bathing in rabbit and tuna flavour Kit-E-Kat.
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You PAID for a cat? most people end up with them free.
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The mind (and all things allergy effected) boggles. Not just paid for a cat, but a rescue cat!
Aren't you doing them a favour by taking rescue cats?
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£75 per cat was the going rate 4 years ago...it shows you're serious about the responsibility and not taking it off to Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Quite right too, but we did appreciate the discount for quantity!
Pat
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Do you want another one- I'll give you £75 if you take it.
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There's always room for one more!
Pat
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It's snakes in the grass you have to be wary about! There's one or two in Car4play!
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 10 May 11 at 15:17
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Grass snakes eat snails
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Tue 10 May 11 at 15:19
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Hiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssss
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>>> Hiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssss
rattlerattlerattle
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Mark Twain said 'If animals could speak, the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much'
Pat
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...the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much...
I'm not a great reader, but there is brilliantly funny short story by Saki about a talking cat.
The setting - as so often with Saki - is a comedy of manners Edwardian country house party.
The cat has the run of the house - bedrooms, balconies, upstairs, downstairs, and causes uproar when it tells the guests what they have been saying behind each others' backs.
www.dowse.com/fiction/Saki.html
Last edited by: Iffy on Tue 10 May 11 at 17:44
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Pat, grass snakes and their habitat are in decline. Many people (myself included) would regard you as being extremely lucky to have seen one, let alone have one in your garden. As for eating the frogs, well, that's nature's balance at work. It certainly won't do you any harm, should you manage to get close enough, although they're normally very shy indeed and rather quickly away when disturbed. As for 'rearing up' if cornered - complete hog! It's no Cobra... That's not generally recognised grass snake behaviour. They are well known for feigning death as a last resort. They'll squirt a nasty liquid on you that really stinks if you manage to capture it, but I guess from your post you're not inclined to do so! If you can learn to accommodate it's presence you might become more comfortable and accept the lovely diversity that you obviously have in your garden. regards.
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After reading the comments on here and googling grass snakes I suppose we are actually flattered that it's decided to visit our garden, Woodster.
The pond is large (17' x14') and over 4' deep in the centre but it does have what we call a pebble beach at one side to enable birds to bathe and hedgehogs to get out if they fall in.
We wouldn't dream of trying to catch it and take it elsewhere, were to in tune with cats who decide themselves where they want to live and people rarely have little say about it.
At the moment, I admit I'm scared of it, but I will get used to it and have decided to have a quiet chat with it next time I see it, just like I do with Boris.
He listens, and has come to toe the line very well, so now we all live in harmony together. Boris stays behind the picture when I'm in the house and only comes out to catch flies at night when I'm in bed.
Hissing Sid could become an assistant too, as CG said he eats snails and I have no shortage of those at the moment!
Pat
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Thanks Iffy, that made good reading with my first coffee!
Pat
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I wonder what Sid's intentions are?
Articles on the 'net suggest at this time of year he will be thinking of making babies which would obviously entail finding a Hissing Samantha.
Could be he will build his strength up by feasting on Pat's frogs for a few days, and then slither on to the next pond in search of a mate.
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>> and then slither on to the next pond in search of a mate.
Or just hop it.
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One wonders how Pat would react to slither family offspring in her pond.
In all honestly, to have rare and beautiful creatures like that breeding in your garden would be a thing of wonder.
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>> Mark Twain said 'If animals could speak, the cat would have the rare grace of
>> never saying a word too much'
>>
True perhaps, but those words would consist mostly of the shorter, Anglo-Saxon version of "go forth and multiply".
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Cats have no loyalty. On that basis man has no need to house them.
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I was thinking more along the lines of some on here who would benefit from that rare grace:)
Probably myself at times!
Pat
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My cat turned up in the garden for free (mother and two tiny kittens). One kitten died/disappeared very young. Celia Hammond Animal Trust (CHAT!) took mother and kitten away, neutered and microchipped them for free, returned them and offered to provide cat food for life...! Leave the RSPCA alone.
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The RSPCA is only a mile away, and we're both voluntary dog walkers for them too.
It's so handy when you can't actually have a dog to be able to go and take one (or a few) for a long walk, or into a compound to play for a while.
We both love walking in rain too when most of the other walkers don't bother.
Your tale proves there is a soft heart under there somewhere, Mapmaker:)
Pat
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I disapprove of the RSPCA very strongly. They are a political campaigning force, funded by old ladies who leave them their money because they think it's going to feed unwanted dogs, whereas it is instead going to fund sometimes quite unpleasant political campaigns, and to bully perfectly sensible animal owners.
Myriad threads here:
www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?s=b55d95498cd89952bac011ab905730fd&t=428810
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And fail, where it matters, to intervene. The kennel club, breeders and breed standards for example.
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Starting to, but way to little and way to late. The RSPCA with its huge public good will and publicity machine could really force the Kennel Clubs hand. A word from the RSPCA and the club would have no sponsors. A well publicised court case wouldn't go amiss either
I have nothing but disgust for the kennel club and a significant proportion of breeders, who single handedly are destroying dog breeds by the dozen. Some fine strong healthy working breeds and good pet dogs are now riddled with problems.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 11 May 11 at 14:23
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>>>Some fine strong healthy working breeds and good pet dogs are now riddled with problems.
Sadly similar issues in small areas of the horse breeding world.
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I won't donate to their cause; haven't done for years.
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Why did I know that I wouldn't earn any Brownie points from you MM.
Pat
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Sadly I'm fed up with the RSPCA too. If we get any junk mail from them I always send it back in the reply envelope telling them I can't donate while they meddle in politics.
Of course they do some good stuff and have some good people but many inspectors are jobsworth types who love the them and us situations they create.
As a lifetime animal owner (from zebra finches to horses) I can so often see the gaps in their true understanding of the realistic choices needed to properly care for animals... the fluffy bunny attitude drives me mad.
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>>>hangs head in shame as she goes off to talk to hissing Sid.
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 11 May 11 at 14:39
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>> Why did I know that I wouldn't earn any Brownie points from you MM.
>> Pat
You earn lots from me.
Go and walk their dogs, please and give them a pat (sic - not Pat) from me. I consider than to be a great and most generous service.
Would I give them £75? No way.
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I've dealt with a lot of RSPCA inspectors during many animal cruelty court cases.
Most of them struck me as sensible people, trying to do a straightforward, hands-on job.
But I agree totally with the comments about the RSPCA's top people, politics, and campaigning stance.
It's not easy to donate to the good bit, but not to the bad.
I suppose if you were making a major bequest, you could direct - to a point - how they spent it.
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Talking about walking dogs, would you like to walk this friendly Snoopy , he likes playing .......
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0SN3tG4Atk
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>>I suppose if you were making a major bequest, you could direct - to a point - how they spent it.
Wouldn't help. They'd just divert other money differently.
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IIRC you can express a wish on the use of a bequest but the recipient cannot be bound.
Bit of a bother to those of us who might leave money to the YHA but only want it spent on proper places in the countryside.
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>> IIRC you can express a wish on the use of a bequest but the recipient
>> cannot be bound.
Problem is money is fungible. So if an organisation is going to spend £1m on project A, and £1m on project B, and you leave them £1.2m only to go to project A, then that leaves £2m for project B. Effectively you have given your money to project B.
So if you want to leave your money to TFL so they feed grass snakes to frogs, but they instead spend it on feeding Boris bikes to non-working computers...
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I thought I'd bumped into somebody who recognised me.
(MM and I encountered each other in a Boris Bikers forum - but only one of us was using the same name as in here!!)
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Snake in pond - Bigtee
