Snake!!

susieq

Aaron, would that be a type of leggless lizard? We have something like that here. We call them glass snakes. My dog found one in our yard also. They lose their tails when grabbed as an escape mechanism, much like the other lizards do.

JGS, around here we don't put our hands where we can't see....between the spiders and the snakes (and God knows what else) that could be in there, it isn't worth it. Good luck with that......
susieq

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Aaron_K

Hi Susie,

Yup the very same. My dog caught a toad too, picked it up in his mouth and kept dropping it. I think he was more scared than it was, because everytime it jumped forward - he jumped back lol. The toad wasn't harmed at all, but I rescued it anyway. It was then that I was amazed to find that they actually scream. It totally took me by surprise lol.

All the best,

Aaron

__________________
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Muriel Strode

Vulpes pilum mutat, non mores!

"A fox may change its skin but never its character"

Jgs bonsai

susieq: I have got to get that masterpiece stone that is hiding in there. I checked closely for the snake. No spiders about, there maybe a centiped, but I know that beautiful stone is there. I have the collectors attitidue in a bad way.

JGS

qaelan

http://flyaqis.mov.vic.gov.au/cgi-b...form=bio_snakem

Search for "potentially fatal" or "dangerous"

This is why i dont like snakes in my back yard

susieq

Amen, Gaelan,
I have watched many wildlife programs on Australia and nearly everything there is poisonous.... The Funnelweb spider is totally terrifying to me, to say nothing of the eastern brown snake.


JGS, I have to ask, what type of stone do you search for and what do you do with it? My folks were rockhounds out west way back when. They still have a pile of rock setting around.

Aaron, I have never heard a toad scream, I would feel so bad for it. What part of England do you live in? I used to live in Suffolk, about an hour out of London. Not far from Bury St. Edmund. They called the place Sheppherds Grove and the local farmer had leased a bunch of land to the US government for base housing. This was a very long time ago, but we used to play in the woods there until there was an outbreak of something called Wheels disease carried by rats. Mom wouldn't let us go into the woods for a long time after that. Never saw a snake there....lots of toads, newts, etc...but no snakes.

The kids on base would come out at night after dinner and gather by the street lights with handfuls of small pebbles to toss in the air when bats flew by. Their sonar would pick up the stone and they would dive for it, thinking it was a flying insect....we were easily entertained back then.

Minator, be glad you have never been bitten by anything bad. I have had two spider bites in two years. Suspect recluse spider but never saw what bit me, I just know I really hope it never happens again.

This thread has been very enjoyable, though I never expected it to go this far as it really has nothing to do with bonsai. It is refreshing to hear so many of you share the idea that not all snakes are bad. Cheers to all.
susieq

Jgs bonsai

susieq: You asked:

"JGS, I have to ask, what type of stone do you search for and what do you do with it? My folks were rockhounds out west way back when. They still have a pile of rock setting around."

I have collected many different types of stones for suseiki display with my bonsai. In Murphys California there is a type of stone that is a mixture of limestone and quartz. These stones have been erroded with water and because the minerals are different hardness they wear at different rates. This creats complex shapes and jutting peaks in these stones. Murphys stones are on exhibit at the National Aboritum and they have developed a world wide following. There are some photographs of Murphys stones here:

http://www.suiseki.com/gallery/murphys1.html

The rivers out west have some of the most beautiful stones for suseiki. The good stones have a smooth pleasing surface, are usually dark in color and remind the viewer of something. There are many types of stones. Some look like distant mountains, grass huts, people, animals, lakes, or just abstract shapes that have interest. My grand parents were rockhounds and I have found many stones that can be used for suseiki in there collection. My grand parents were knowlegable in viewing stones so they added them to their collection. This may be true of your parents collection too. If you have interest in the suseiki to display with you bonsai ait may be worth looking through their collection.

JGS

Aaron_K

Hi Susie,

I live in Kent, just east of London. In my life I've seen one snake, an adder, the UK's only venomous snake. I was about 6 at the time, never seen one in the wild since. We used to collect tadpoles and frogs, toads and newts from a small lake a few miles from home, and put them in our ponds. That is now the 4th lane of the highway now as its all been bulldozed over, including a great deal of woodland.

When I rescued the toad from the dog, I thought I was imagining things when it screamed. I showed my mum and she thought it was me making stupid noises with my mouth at first lol. I checked it over for injuries, but found none. The dog was literally picking it up in his mouth, not biting it thankfully. I put it up the back of the garden in some nice thick undergrowth.

Funnily enough, only 2 weeks ago, I noticed one of my maple seedlings had been dislodged from its position and was lying on its side in the pot. I thought it was those damn cats again, but as I went to repot the seedling, I found about 15 perfect little pearl like spheres, and after moving a few pots around on the patio, I found the culprit. I put the pot in the undergrowth along with the mother toad, and found a new container for my maple.

All the best,

Aaron

__________________
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Muriel Strode

Vulpes pilum mutat, non mores!

"A fox may change its skin but never its character"

susieq

JGS, thanks for the link to the rock site. Those are some neat rocks....mum and dad don't have anything like that laying around from their rockhound days. Will have to watch here in our area for interesting rocks.

Aaron, It is sad that nothing in our childhoods stays the same as we remember it......Shepherds Grove was over 40 years ago. Heaven knows what happened to that wood we used to play in. Regarding momma toad....
is she the typical looking garden toad? The eggs were not layed in water?
We have some tiny frogs here that I stumbled on quite by accident. They get no larger than one of my thumbnails and they lay their eggs in moist, dark areas in leaf litter and loose soil. The tiny tadpole developes inside the egg and then hatches a miniature replica of it's parents. If you watch the eggs you can actually see the babies moving around in them. Really cool. There are a bunch of them where I store spare nursery pots. If any still have dirt they usually become a nesting ground for these little critters. Have fun with your unusual toad.

Aaron_K

Hi Susie

It wouldn't suprise me if the woods you refer to are now a shopping mall, business park or a new bypass - all in the name of progress eh?

I think it is just a common toad that I found. I have no pond in my garden, nor do my neighbours, but the patio and the way the pots are arranged, remain damp. The pot she had laid her eggs in contained a lot of organic material, so it was nice and moist, humid and predator free too. I could see these tiny little creatures growing inside. I hope they are toad eggs... because I'd hate to see the size of the spider that laid them lol ... EEEEEEK

All the best,

Aaron

__________________
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Muriel Strode

Vulpes pilum mutat, non mores!

"A fox may change its skin but never its character"