Our Garden Snakes
I have been on the look out for snakes in the garden since we’ve been back. I find them such fascinating, beautiful creatures. Neem has seen two garden snakes, and I was quite jealous. Then, the other evening, I saw a thing like a worm wriggling across the floor of our outdoor kitchen.
It was about four inches long, silvery black with a jet black head like a tadpole. and about the thickness of a bamboo kebab skewer. It stopped when it saw me, and just stared. I left it alone and went inside since the mosquitoes were starting to come out looking for me.
Neem was not happy to learn that we probably have a nest of deadly vipers in the garden, and gave me a tongue-lashing for not killing it. She calls them ‘Hammer Snakes’ – a translation from the Thai, because when they attack or move quickly, they seem to jump forward, like a car doing a kangaroo start. Hence the simile with the hammer striking. I can’t find the species in my book, but apparently, the babies are as deadly as their parents right from birth :-). I once saw a nine-inch specimen clear a shop full of people in seconds.
Then yesterday, I saw another garden snake, a green one, a foot long, on our wall. It resembled a length of reinforced garden hose. Having forgotten to take a photo of the black one, I rushed outside to snap it, but it jumped off the wall into next-door’s garden when it saw me approach.
Two different types of snake with completely different temperaments – but the second one wasn’t venomous.
Perhaps that’s why it fled.
The photo is of either a Paradise Snake or a Golden Tree Snake, both of which are so-called flying snakes. It is totally harmless, but still quite a shock when you find one wrapped around your front door handle first thing in the morning.
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