Slippery Sam
Trying to avoid Newton’s Law of Gravity is always a priority when riding a bike but having one of these things rear up and try to attach itself to your leg isn’t.
I have a bit of a problem with watery eyes these days while riding and the eye guy said the muscles in the eye lids get droopy as you age and hence the tear ducts get a pounding from the wind. Add the eye lids to the sagging bits in one’s old age. Sigh!
Anyway, I’m motoring along at a fair clip on the bike and I’m in the process of wiping my eye when I sail past what looks like a log out of my peripheral vision. I finally get both eyes on the track to see this tiger snake rearing up at my bare leg as I go past.
Fortunately Scotty was going quick enough to avoid Slippery Sam’s fangs so I screamed to a halt to take some happy snaps. He slithered off into the grass but decided I was getting too close and came back out for a second go. Having got my shots (fortunately not the antivenin ones), that was my cue to depart and leave him in peace.
Not surprisingly, I don’t see too many people out exercising their dogs at the moment.
I haven’t walked the dogs on the rail trail since I encountered a snake weeks and weeks ago. The dogs just run around in that long grass so it’s too risky!
The same for us in the Nature Reserve. They usually cut the grass in Feb (Parks Vic and DSE are useless) and you can’t run there for fear of meeting Slippery.
The other day I walked out in my back yard and spooked a coyote that was sleeping in the purple fountain grass, and of all things I didn’t have my camera with me. I was within five feet of the coyote when he poked his head up, lucky for me he leapt over the block fence and disappeared into the neighborhood. On the upside, people aren’t letting their cats wander all night in the neighborhood.
Now there’s an idea! Let it be known a dingo is resident in the neighbour, and hey presto, cat prowling gone.
Glad you escaped, now watch out for Santa and reindeer, oh and those pesky elves. HO HO HO.
I’ll run the fat little sod over.
Just reach down and poke ‘em in the eyes as you roll past. Stops ‘em dead in their tracks…
Our snakes are under a foot of snow at the moment…
He saw me first so had the advantage. A snow flakes chance in hell of of ours being under snow here.
Ewww, that could have been nasty!
I’ve been a very naughty blogger just recently, what with my internet going horribly wrong and then as soon as it was fixed, the Christmas Variety Show kept me busy and now all the Christmas prep…. however I promise to be better in the future. So Have a Happy Christmas and all the best for 2013!
I wonder where you had snuck off to. You’re not the only one being a naughty blogger so don’t feel bad. And Seasons Greetings to you and your lovely family too Shammy.
Yikes! It is a beautiful snake though. I’m glad you and the snake ended up okay at the end of that story.
Looked like an Eastern Brown snake but I’m no expert. Very venomous.
Aren’t ALL your snakes venomous? It is still a beautiful animal.
No, not all are poisonous. Pythons are non-venomous along with quite a few others.
That is you with the gold nugget isn’t it? Love the disguise, great idea shaving your head.
I presume you were trying to post a link to the guy who found that big nugget at Ballarat. I used a stand-in for the photo. Don’t want everyone knowing of my good fortune.