What interesting creatures live in your garden?

[digitS']

That's a frog, @sumi ?

We don't have many frogs here. Probably because there aren't many wetlands nearby. If water sits on the soil surface, it sinks ... one "fast" aquifer. We are told that it moves underground at a speed of 30' a day.

You will have adjustments to make with the move to Ireland. My suggestion, find the person who has gardened longest in new neighborhood. Copy exactly what that person does for the first 3 years. There will be frogs, leave the snakes in SA.

Steve

 

[sumi]

Yep, it's a little frog. We have many frogs here, babies now, as it's early summer. The other part of our farm borders a river and my son found dozens of tadpoles there a few weeks ago. We kept a few so he can see them turn into frogs and then took them back to the river.

I've done some research into gardening over there, specifically things like strawberries and other berry types. I think the wet climate is going to make things interesting. Here we have the exact opposite, hot and dry! The snakes and spiders can stay here It will be nice to walk through overgrown areas again without worrying.

 

[digitS']

It was a little disturbing to learn that not long ago, a poisonous snake was found only a few miles away. I am trying to restore my confidence that there are no others within an hour's drive by believing someone brought it and left it there.

I was taught a little about snakes as a kid, growing up where rattlesnakes were somewhat common. Never step over something that you cannot see over ... it wasn't easy to move through a lot of the countryside but, at least, encouraged me to slow down and look around.

Steve

 

[sumi]

We have many, many snakes here. Looking out for them is second nature, though I still slip up all the time. A few months ago at our previous home I was collecting dried grasses for my hens' nest boxes and actually brushed against a boomslang (Boomslang - Wikipedia) before I saw it. Thankfully the snake was no more "with it" than I was and didn't respond for a few seconds. We had way too many boomslang and Puff adders there. Here it's mostly cobras, though I've seen some Mamba as well.

 

[Nyboy]

Sumi you need Rikki Tikki Tavi !! I just read the other day Boomslang where thought to be harmless and sold in pet shops. Before people realized they where rear fanged.

 

[sumi]

I wish they were harmless. They are stunning, but very dangerous and learning that the local hospital did not stock any anti-venom did not make me feel any better! I was so worried the entire time we were on that farm, with my son running around and them popping up everywhere. We found 12 or 13 in the year we stayed there? And 4 puff adders.

 

[britesea]

Thank goodness they appear to be not very aggressive, according to the wiki article you linked

 

[goatgurl]

please keep all the snakes there, we have just 4 kinds of venomous snakes here and that's more than enough.

 

[sumi]

I just went to feed my rescued cock Eddie. When I got to his quarantine pen I grabbed the shade cloth to pull it back so I can get my hand with the food scoop in and felt something sting my fingers... I let go to have a look and found I grabbed this:



If you look closely on the ruler, the side closest to the spider is marked in inches. It's a big one lol Can't believe I didn't see it. My fingers are burning a bit now, but I'm 90% sure it didn't bite me, thank goodness.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Lucky break. But keep an eye on yourself just in case. I think that may be a Huntsman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider#Venom_and_aggression
Luckily according to Wikipedia their bites are not particularly dangerous (though I seem to recall something else from that news story about the woman in Great Britain who had one hitchhike home in her luggage (with egg sack)

On my side, Pogo showed up the last two night (or if not him/her) another possum. This has made me have to re-strategize my plans. I was planning to dump two HUGE bags of popcorn (leftovers from last weeks pop tests) outside today (both because it means there is food on top of the snow, and because the critters deserve Thanksgiving dinner too.) But I think I'll have to do it on the back yard. Pogo likes popcorn too, and I'd prefer he NOT be standing there by the path when we come home tonight.