Random Bits of Nature (Snake Warning)

A very tiny toad -- less than in inch.

Blacksnakes kill by constriction. This was an ex-chipmunk by the time I saw it.

A Walk on the New Road

Daffodils and SNAKES!!!!

If you're creeped out by snakes, you may want to make a graceful exit along about now. Come back tomorrow.  But Martin H. over at Square Sunshine asked what dangerous snakes we have in the US and here they are, beginning with the Copperhead, of which we have quite a few on our mountain. 

 

Copperheads are venomous but rarely fatal. (I have a friend who was bitten by one and she said it was the most pain she's ever experienced.) They are fond of wood piles and rock walls so we try to be cautious around both.

The darker race of copperheads look a lot like our Northern Water Snakes but Copperheads have the slim neck and wide head of the pit viper. They also have vertical pupils whereas the water snake's pupils are round -- a handy identification reference, if you can get that close. 


The other venomous snake in western North Carolina is the rattle snake.

There are many varieties of rattle snakes (rattlers) in the US; here in the mountains we have the timber rattler. Or so I'm told. I've never seen one on our place but that doesn't mean there are none. His scientific name is crotalus horridus but there are few recorded fatalities from his bite. 

No Water Moccasins in the mountains, thank goodness. If you ever saw Lonesome Dove and the scene where the cowboys are crossing the river- well, never mind but talk about creeping you out. . .

 

Water moccasins are also called cottonmouths. When disturbed, they will hold their heads up and open their mouths wide, displaying the pale interior. These snakes are aggressive and highly venomous.

We don't have any Coral Snakes so no need for the rhyme Scouts learn-"Red and yellow -- kill a fellow/ Red and black--friend of Jack."

(The harmless Scarlet King Snake looks very similar, but in the King Snake, the red and black bands are touching, not separated by yellow.)

Coral Snakes sound pretty scary -- related as they are to cobras, mambas, and sea snakes. But they are highly reclusive and non-aggressive. They aren't pit vipers and don't inject venom into their victim -- they literally have to chew it in.  I've never seen one in the wild, though I lived in Florida (which has all four venomous snakes) over thirty years.

The pictures of snakes came from HERE  
Click the link for lots more information on venomous snakes of the USA.
Or just enjoy a snake-free clump of daffodils.

 

Gray Day

 We're entering the time of year when I have to learn again to appreciate the beauty of dark skeletal branches against a gray sky . . . the orderly confusion of an abandoned nest . . .

And to wonder about this all white addition to the Canada Goose flock by the river.  He or she has been with them for a month or more -- seemingly accepted as a part of the group. Has the interloper found a mate? I can't tell.  But I wonder what the others make of it. 

In the past, the geese have stayed there all winter. I hope they continue to do so because I suspect this domestic bird wouldn't be capable of flying long distances.

It's almost a Little Mermaid in reverse story. 

Still Thankful for Little Things

A sturdy little steer . . .

A tiny spider web. . .

Raindrops on a pansy . . .

And a gentle mist on the world outside.

Little Joys

Living in a county where this is a headline in our weekly paper . . .

Living on a road where I can stop the car slap in the middle to take a picture . . .

Meeting a stray vole on the pathway to our porch . . .

and seeing the flames of volunteer Burning Bushes springing up in unexpected places . . .

Natural Dilemma

A Monarch butterfly, struggling in a web . . . Of course I released it . . .

 But then I felt bad for the hungry spider. . . 

Sometimes it seems that the beautiful people get all the breaks.

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 Click to biggify slide show and see captions!

No Nature Girl

A few years ago, in one of my monthly newsletters (now morphed into The Goodweather Report blog,) I posted a closeup picture of a rather attractive fuzzy caterpillar, calling particular attention to his cute little pink feet.

As always, I had some email comments on my newsletter and there was a memorable one from my agent who took exception to my calling the caterpillar feet (or, indeed, the caterpillar) adorable.

In fact,  my agent's response was so  amazing that I  copied it to a file where I keep ideas for future use. And when I came to write Under the Skin, I used the response pretty much verbatim. putting it into the mouth of Elizabeth's sister Gloria who -- like my agent -- is no nature girl.

In the following scene, Elizabeth and her sister are at the beginning of a spa and seance weekend -- rather against Elizabeth's wishes.

--- As we walked up the path leading to the inn, I stopped by a high-arching clump of grass to admire a fuzzy yellow caterpillar teetering at the end of a glossy green blade. He had reared up and his tiny pink feet – the front six of them – were questing in search of their next step.

                        “Glory, come look at this guy and his adorable little feet!” It was worth a try, I thought. I’ll learn to love Dead Sea Salt exfoliation and maybe Gloria can get a little appreciation for Nature.

            My sister leaned down to see my find, wrinkling her nose in fastidious disgust. “Adorable? Those creepy little feet? If you killed that thing and stuck it with pins to some sort of board and looked at it under a microscope, you would see that those feet are anything but ‘adorable’ – they are vile little buggy mutant feet that look really gross close up.”

            She glanced at her watch. “We’ve got forty minutes before dinner – you can stay and visit with your yucky little friend; I’m going to go have a bath.”  ---

The butterfly pictures are for my agent -- she thinks butterflies are gross too. You can imagine how she feels about snakes.

But that's one of the revelations about writing -- if one just pays attention, there's a whole world of interesting material out there!

Nature Shots

Not mine (in my dreams!) but National Geographic's Best of 2009. 

Click on the slide show at the bottom to enlarge the pictures and enjoy the amazing detail.

 Which is your favorite?