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thomastapir — 'Sssup
Published: 2012-03-25 20:41:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 924; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 27
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Ssspring means sssnakes! I caught this guy cold and/or unawares, so I was able to get in pretty close. Once it noticed me it coiled and started flicking its tongue in and out. I wish I had gotten one decent shot with the tongue fully extended, but s/he was in an understandable hurry to get moving. : /The coloration was NOT this vivid in person; I bumped the contrast to bring out the stripes. I do actually see garter snakes this vividly colored, though.
Saw my first newt of the year today, too!
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Comments: 33
Lucky devil! Wish I could see snakes, endemic snakes that the birds are all used to.
What a beauty in any case.
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I meant to ask, do you see any snakes at all? I mean, even non-native snakes...? How about sea snakes?
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The odd sea snake will wash up but that is rare.
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Looks great w/ the bumped up color. 
Sometimes feels like you live in a wildlife preserve! 
Some crazy wildlife around here... apparently there's a bobcat in town!
And we have a local bird of prey which seems bloody huge. Has to be an eagle I'm thinking. Wingspan could be 8 feet across.
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Gosh Rob, it almost sounds like you're living in Cannock Chase! [link]
I'd be curious to know what that bird turns out to be...Sounds almost like a condor!
You're dead right, though, it really is nothing more than carrying a camera and paying attention. I had kind of an epiphany that taking photos of microfauna is the best, or at least most practical, way to realize my dream of capturing aliens in their native habitat...You take a casual snap of a nondescript beetle or spider while you're out walking, and when you download it back home you've got a hi-fi monster portrait!
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Cannock Chase! Sounds like a perfect location for fantastical fiction. There's gotta be some based there, and I want to read it.
I'm no ornithologist, but I don't think it's a Condor. I think those look more vulturine? w/ white coloring on the wing underside near the upper edge. whereas this guy has only a little white near the wingtips and trailing edge?
He (or she) has a got a large head and thicker neck, w/ same overall brown coloring. Big and brawny.
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I have only seen newts in zoos
But on the bright side, one of those zoos had a giant chinese salamander...
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What a pretty little guy. You can really see well the texture and shape of the scales on its head, that's very interesting. And those eyes!
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Oh, the eyes were beautiful! What surprised me about the scales on the head is that they're not perfectly symmetrical--you can see some slight disparity in size and placement. I managed to get one photo where you can very clearly see the overlapping mail-like scales on the body, right down to the raised ridge down the center of each scale, but unfortunately the head was totally out of focus in that one.
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Tonight we don our laurel wreaths and dance in the moonlight!
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Hee, thanks! Trying so hard to look fierce. XD
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Your very welcome!:3 Little snake with swagger XD
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I can't remember the last time I saw a snake in the wild around here.
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Aw, that's a bummer. 
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Increase in stray cat population.
Not really. I'm not even sure I can call it a decline, since I've only ever seen 2 wild snakes in the area. I think. I'm only positive about one of them, I may have imagined the other. I can't remember. Which is sad in itself.
I suppose maybe I should be happy about the lack of sightings, given the general attitude towards snakes. Even if they're harmless.
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Oh man, that's so sad! It would be unusual for me to see only two snakes an hour, walking in the spring and summer. I saw five snakes today, though one (two?) of those might have been "repeats."
I wouldn't worry too much about the snake safety, though--from my experience it's pretty hard to catch them!
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I'm not so much worried about individual snake safety. But when people see them near their homes it seems like suddenly it's a public menace and it must be eradicated.
Although, I know attitude towards snakes can vary between locations. I don't know how people feel about snakes around here, really. I love them. Wish I could see them more often.
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Garter snakes! Yaaay!
Ever summer my brother and I would catch them and keep them in a terrarium with grass then let them go at the end of the day.
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They're fascinating to watch, aren't they! Did you get "musked" much?
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Oh yeah, we'd have to wash our hands every time. Smells so bad! XD We started wearing work gloves, but it still got through.
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Try an abrasive paste of salt and baking soda mixed with rubbing alcohol, followed by lemon juice. Works every time!
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I think we just washed a lot XD That was years and years ago, I don't smell like it anymore.
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newts and snakes! I can only see frogs here and there... =/
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Frogs is good, though! I wish I saw more of them myself. It's interesting to hear what people see in different areas.
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Yeah! I've seen a lizard a few times, but it always was "a tail disapearing into the high grass" kind of thing...
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Haha, that's usually exactly what I see in terms of snakes! XD
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haha i sssee what you did there. xD awesome pic.
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Hee, I couldn't resssist!
Thanks, I'm glad you like it.
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