I enjoy looking at butterflies fluttering around. They appear to be mobile ornaments for my garden. Robert Louis Stevenson once said that "Butterflies are like flying flowers, the flower a tethered butterfly."
a nearby clump of Alpinias to select some for cut flowers. As I stooped down to sever the stalks,
I felt as if I was being watched.
It then slithered away deeper into the ginger torch clump.
I flipped through the large fronds and found it lying lengthwise along the long leaf stalk. It was certainly not pleased to be discovered and showed its displeasure by extending its forked tongue.
gave me a quizzical look.
It then turned its head sideways to get a better look at me. It looked at me hard and long. It was a very tense moment as we eyeballed each other.
“Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.” - Chanakya
I then bade it goodbye and it lifted up its head as if in acknowledgement. We parted in peace.
It was hovering near the wall probably because of small morsels of food such as this which was self-exhibited and ready for the picking.
An interesting shadow play was displayed with its pair of tentacles. It seems snails have poor eyesight. No wonder their eyes have to be located at the end of stalks. Dots at the end of the antennae make them look like eyes.
This snail has found a lovely way to shelter from the sun. The canary yellow petals of the Allamanda cathatica form the perfect canopy for it. Snails have a messy habit of leaving their droppings on the walls which are rather difficult to dislodge. Spraying with a stream of water under high pressure can dislodge them but the smudges remained - ugh!!!
Posted from Cork, Ireland. How time flies. I'm into the third week of my one-month sojourn in Ireland.
Posted from Cork, Ireland. How time flies. I'm into the third week of my one-month sojourn in Ireland.
I would scream if I saw a snake in my garden. I cant help it, but they terrify me. I wouldn't harm it, but run away like Carl Lewis! ;O)
ReplyDeleteActually, I have a deep-seated fear of snakes. They give me the creeps. My immediate reaction was to flee, but returned with the camera when I thought of the photo opportunities.
DeleteOh my good...luckily not the poisonous type...be careful ya when around yr garden..luckily here we don't have snake everywhere...especially around our part.u know in anaconda movie about snake shoot here in fiji? somehow that was a lie..no such snake here..:)
ReplyDeleteI really have no idea whether that snake was poisonous or not and neither do I care to find out as I don't think I want to check them out. I remember that Anaconda movie where they were unbelievably huge.
DeleteYour snake is beautiful. It seemed to be that you knew it wouldn't hurt you and it knew you wouldn't hurt it, so you could be friends for a moment or two.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Perhaps snakes can sense fear or violence. Thus in this instance, this snake must have sense that here is this crazy photographer and just played along by posing for a few choice shots :D
DeleteChyba bym się nie chciała spotkać z takim wężem, mimo iż nie jadowity. Podziwiam Cię, że zrobiłaś mu tyle świetnych zdjęć. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteI guess I would not want to meet with the snake, while not poisonous. I admire you that you've done it so many great photos. Yours.
Actually I'm not brave, my hands were trembling and that's the reason for my blur photos.
DeleteIncredibly cool shots!!!! I love the snake....although I'd have been a little stunned finding this guy in my garden. They always do shock....but after the shock is over, I come to my senses and love watching them do "their thing".
ReplyDeleteYes, trembling and pressing the shutter nervously. Perhaps that's the reason the snake cocked its head and look at me sideways.
DeleteNice shots of a snake. You were so brave, but your wish to take picture of it seems to have made you so. I haven’t seen snakes in my garden, but I got freeze when I encountered it in the mountain.
ReplyDeleteI think snakes are more common in the Tropics. I'm not surprised to have this snake visiting because of the presence of many other critters, particularly snails.
DeleteYou are one brave lady STileTTo! I would have frozen!
ReplyDeleteSnakes can read human's emotion through the eyes.
Thank God you are unharmed!
Anyway ..cool shots you have there :-)
Well done!
Thanks. As I've mentioned I was quivering. On top of this, I was using the macro lens, so have to be quite close. I was so afraid of the snake arching out to bite me.
DeleteHello Stiletto - I love your pictures of the snake, he really looks rather friendly and not at all threatening. Beautiful shots.
ReplyDeleteI thought it had a wicked glint when it glared at me sideways. Anyway looks can be deceiving particularly when I've no idea how snakes operate.
DeleteSnakes are far more frightened of people, who through their fear would harm them.You were more interested in getting these great shots than harming or running away from him, but if it had been poisonous would you have been able to get away unharmed!! Well, all good photographers take risks to get that all important shot, so well done, you certainly acheived this, and more with all the other good captures.:)
ReplyDeleteThis should alert me to go get that telephoto lens so that I can conduct this shutter-clicking from a safer distance. Thanks for all the encouraging words.
DeleteIf only pictures could contain a scream element, I'm wondering, did you scream when you saw the snake? At five feet long, I would have run and screamed! In your last picture it is in a beautiful S shape. I love the picture of the snail and the flower (minus the poop), the snail shell looks like it is the vase for the yellow bloom. Fantastic, I love the way you describe your trips into the garden, always an adventure!
ReplyDeleteI froze and was too stunned to scream. It took me a moment to realise that this could turn out to be a good photo opportunity. Its interesting how people see the same situation differently; I see the snail with an umbrella but you see see a flower in a vase. Thanks for appreciating and sharing a sense of adventure.
DeleteHi La Gata Coqueta,
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by which leads me to your blog. Simply love Mushi.