Grass snakes are beautiful creatures, she should be very honoured having one visit her garden. There are probably tadpoles in the pond that he is feeding on. It's the Eastern Brown snakes, which we have here in our garden, that you need to be frightened of!
Grass snakes are beautiful creatures, she should be very honoured having one visit her garden. There are probably tadpoles in the pond that he is feeding on. It's the Eastern Brown snakes, which we have here in our garden, that you need to be frightened of!
The woman's 92 for goodness sake! She's shit scared of going outside or leaving the back door open, but hey, sod that, she's got a reptile sliding around her back garden....What a lucky lady.
Paulie is right, get someone round to remove it and think about filling in the pond.
The woman's 92 for goodness sake! She's shit scared of going outside or leaving the back door open, but hey, sod that, she's got a reptile sliding around her back garden....What a lucky lady.
Paulie is right, get someone round to remove it and think about filling in the pond.
a 92 year old is scared and that is the only consideration here.
Remove the problem either yourself or through official channels.
Should be honoured to have the snake in the garden - what a load of tosh.
Honoured in that the average person could live their whole life in the UK and never see one in the wild. A bit like having an extremely rare bird visiting your garden. The fear factor is simply due to a lack of knowledge. I would first explain that it is a completely harmless, timid creature, that has no venom and feeds on rodents etc. If she is still not happy, then place some very fine mesh over the pond. If he cant get in for a swim/feed, he'll move on to another pond. There is no need to confront such a creature.
< kentaddick">Remember if you kill it/move it you're removing part of the ecosystem that could be suppressing populations of insects and small rodents that originally attracted the snake in the first place.
I'm terrified of snakes, if it was an adder I'd sympathise more as they can possibly kill an elderly frail woman. My verdict is get a pro to move it to a protected environment.
Adders can't swim, so wouldn't be attracted to the pond in the first place.
< kentaddick">Remember if you kill it/move it you're removing part of the ecosystem that could be suppressing populations of insects and small rodents that originally attracted the snake in the first place.
I'm terrified of snakes, if it was an adder I'd sympathise more as they can possibly kill an elderly frail woman. My verdict is get a pro to move it to a protected environment.
Adders can't swim, so wouldn't be attracted to the pond in the first place.
yes they can. I've seen one do it with my own eyes
They stay submerged a lot longer once the shovel does its deed, I ain't never seen one come back up for air, as I leave the heads on sticks around the pond to warn the others off
Grass snakes are beautiful creatures, she should be very honoured having one visit her garden. There are probably tadpoles in the pond that he is feeding on. It's the Eastern Brown snakes, which we have here in our garden, that you need to be frightened of!
I keep thinking about this post. How on earth do you enjoy a garden when sharing it with snakes like that? Can't imagine it, but then when I was in Sydney people liked to tell scary stories of funnel web spiders lurking in the gutter of the swimming pool, and they still had their pools
Grass snakes are beautiful creatures, she should be very honoured having one visit her garden. There are probably tadpoles in the pond that he is feeding on. It's the Eastern Brown snakes, which we have here in our garden, that you need to be frightened of!
I keep thinking about this post. How on earth do you enjoy a garden when sharing it with snakes like that? Can't imagine it, but then when I was in Sydney people liked to tell scary stories of funnel web spiders lurking in the gutter of the swimming pool, and they still had their pools
Comes with the territory Prague. They were here millions of years before we decided to build our house on their patch. I love snakes but am very wary of the Brown snake because our neighbours have been chased by one and they can be very aggressive. We also have the less venomous Red Bellied Black Snake and Carpet Pythons which can be huge, but harmless. We also have a lovely big monitor lizard that comes to drink out of the pool, not to mention the beautiful parrots and Kangaroos that visit the garden regularly. I'm actually more frightened of insects and have been stung by two wasps and two ants so far this year. The ant bite was the most intense and prolonged pain that I have ever experienced!
Grass snakes are beautiful creatures, she should be very honoured having one visit her garden. There are probably tadpoles in the pond that he is feeding on. It's the Eastern Brown snakes, which we have here in our garden, that you need to be frightened of!
I keep thinking about this post. How on earth do you enjoy a garden when sharing it with snakes like that? Can't imagine it, but then when I was in Sydney people liked to tell scary stories of funnel web spiders lurking in the gutter of the swimming pool, and they still had their pools
Comes with the territory Prague. They were here millions of years before we decided to build our house on their patch. I love snakes but am very wary of the Brown snake because our neighbours have been chased by one and they can be very aggressive. We also have the less venomous Red Bellied Black Snake and Carpet Pythons which can be huge, but harmless. We also have a lovely big monitor lizard that comes to drink out of the pool, not to mention the beautiful parrots and Kangaroos that visit the garden regularly. I'm actually more frightened of insects and have been stung by two wasps and two ants so far this year. The ant bite was the most intense and prolonged pain that I have ever experienced!
Bloody hell. In Australia even the ants are scary.The worst thing they do here is dig up bits of my lawn. I don't feel honoured, and do let them know.
Dead slow worm by the front door, that's the nearest I've got to anything like your daily experience. But it does sound more lively, your garden. Mowing the lawn is a bit of an extreme sport, by the sound of it.
Even in Australia snakes and spiders are not the horrors that people make them out to be. Sure the brown snake and the funnel web are famed for their lethal ability. But the truth is they are nowhere near as dangerous as the popular folklore makes out. There are many Aussies who love a good story about how dangerous their wildlife is, particularly if it scares the shit out of some pommie visitor. But most Aussies will not know anyone who has suffered a serious bite let alone a fatal one. So before we let these beautiful creatures get demonised any more, lets have a look at some facts:
Snake bites per head of population: Between 3 and 18 per 100,000 Deaths by snakebite: Roughly 1 per year. Mostly caused by people interfering with the snakes. Mortality rate 0.03 per 100,000 people. A rate similar to caffeine related deaths. Spider bite deaths: None since 1981 Funnel Web bites: 30-40 people per year receive potentially fatal bites but all are given anti-venom and survive.
If we then look at the figures for the UK we see that such creatures are as gentle as puppies.
Spider bites: Of 600 spider species only half a dozen are capable of biting humans. No specific figures as rolled in with other arthropod bites & stings. Spider bite deaths: Only one ever, and even that is disputed. Snake bites: Approximately 100 per year. Deaths by snake bite: None since 1975
Comments
Apparently snake tastes like chicken. Barbeque?
The woman's 92 for goodness sake! She's shit scared of going outside or leaving the back door open, but hey, sod that, she's got a reptile sliding around her back garden....What a lucky lady.
Paulie is right, get someone round to remove it and think about filling in the pond.
Remove the problem either yourself or through official channels.
Should be honoured to have the snake in the garden - what a load of tosh.
"you don't want to know"
"no no go on"
"killed a snake"
"...right"
Otherwise, the snake will move on as there will be no food for it
I'm terrified of snakes, if it was an adder I'd sympathise more as they can possibly kill an elderly frail woman. My verdict is get a pro to move it to a protected environment.
Adders can't swim, so wouldn't be attracted to the pond in the first place.
yes they can. I've seen one do it with my own eyes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2008/03/31/rob_ward_snakes_feature.shtml
"Although the adder can swim it is more common to see grass snakes swimming in ponds, as they can stay submerged for around an hour."
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the POND water!
Dead slow worm by the front door, that's the nearest I've got to anything like your daily experience. But it does sound more lively, your garden. Mowing the lawn is a bit of an extreme sport, by the sound of it.
Snake bites per head of population: Between 3 and 18 per 100,000
Deaths by snakebite: Roughly 1 per year. Mostly caused by people interfering with the snakes. Mortality rate 0.03 per 100,000 people. A rate similar to caffeine related deaths.
Spider bite deaths: None since 1981
Funnel Web bites: 30-40 people per year receive potentially fatal bites but all are given anti-venom and survive.
If we then look at the figures for the UK we see that such creatures are as gentle as puppies.
Spider bites: Of 600 spider species only half a dozen are capable of biting humans. No specific figures as rolled in with other arthropod bites & stings.
Spider bite deaths: Only one ever, and even that is disputed.
Snake bites: Approximately 100 per year.
Deaths by snake bite: None since 1975