Aaaargh snake!

[racaille]

Not often I am fazed by something but last evening I was in the old hay store to collect eggs, as the chickens have decided that it is really great to lay among the old abandoned luzerne there. It is darkish and I wasn't paying attention.

So I bent down and put out my hand to collect the eggs when at the last minute I saw him: a snake eyeing up an egg, almost with its mouth open. AAaaaarrrrrghghghghgh!

I don't know who was more shocked: me, or the snake who was about to dine. It took its time to slither away too, and now I know it lives behind the luzerne bales I am terrified - there will be more........

Not entirely sure what kind of snake it was either. It wasn't very big, about as long as my forearm and as wide as my thumb, but the pattern on its back was ambiguous, faintly diamond shaped and it did have an arrow shaped head. But it would be odd for a viper (and it clearly wasn't aggressive) so I'm going with a harmless juvenile ladder snake. Well it will get big soon (they grow to more than a metre and a half long) if it's got an eggy diet so I might have to man up and turn out the old hay store......

[haffyfan]

Eeek, i rather like snakes, in controlled circumstances, but an unexpected meeting like that would be enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies. Do you have poisionous snakes down there, i'm thinking you will!

[racaille]

Not really Haf. Apart from the vipers (shy and quite rare) there is the Montpelier snake which is venomous but because of the position of its fangs, it is very hard to get bitten by one. However, they are aggressive and can be very large and frighten the bejesus out of me

[brigadier]

Im not a snake person at all but its the touching them that gets me, so as long as they keep themselves to themselves I can cope. But wouldnt be too keen on them eating precious eggs.

[rainbow]

sounds like an adder. Not sure if you have them over there though.