Wildlife early 2009

[Lesley Cox]

Lie down Mark!

[cohan]

its good to have an occasional reminder that there are  SOME  pluses to living in the sub-arctic...no reptiles here..
there are rattle snakes in the province, but thats in drier, hotter areas to the south with rocks for basking....

[Lvandelft]

people usually do more harm than anything when they meddle in ecosystems--hopefully we will get better at it, since there are few unaltered ecosystems anymore!
is that fence enough to keep out the roe deer? here where people have gardens or fields they need to protect from deer, they put fences that are quite high (more than a couple of metres)..this would seem like the best solution for the farmers, no?...

There are high fences build near traffic roads, but gardeners are not so important. 
These gardeners are already years asking for fences, but there are simply no reactions from the magistrates.

[Paul T]

Mark,

I assume you do realise that the pictures are on their sides?    If not, then plants are learning to grow horizontal and soil doesn't fall out of pots when lain on their side. 

I must admit I did for a brief moment think it was climbing a wall, too. 

[TC]

What is the snake.  Is it a puff adder ?

[Calvin Becker]

Sorry about the orientation of the pictures! They are indeed on their sides.

Anne- the octopus is a Scadoxus membranaceus.

Maggie- a visit would surely sharpen your survival skills! You never know when they might come in handy.

TC- I don't think it's a puff adder but rather a Rhombic Night Adder. The dark V-shape on the back of the neck is characteristic for Rhombic. Luckily though as the rhombic is a lot less dangerous than the puff adder!

[Maggi Young]

Maggie- a visit would surely sharpen your survival skills! You never know when they might come in handy.

 Calvin, you underestimate me.......I have lived in places with dangerous wildlife ..... England for instance!   I am happy to live now in a place with almost no poisonous snakes and spiders and the like...... but rest assured, my survival skills are better than you could ever imagine for a little fat woman with a love of chocolate.... appearances can be deceptive 

[annew]

Calvin, I'm disappointed.

[Anthony Darby]

I've got a stiff neck.

[Ragged Robin]

I was horizontal when I saw you photos so they looked perfectly orientated to me!   What was the snake looking for do you think   ?

[cohan]

There are high fences build near traffic roads, but gardeners are not so important. 
These gardeners are already years asking for fences, but there are simply no reactions from the magistrates.

seems odd, the bulb business is an important industry, no?
anyway, here there is no one to ask to build fences--you build your own!!

[Paul T]

Hey Y'all,

A couple of pics of some wildlife at a pond area here within Canberra....  A little Welcome Swallow (I think), a couple of Teal Ducks, and what I think is called a Purple Swamphen.

All thanks to the new camera, because my old one wouldn't have been able to get anywhere near this "close" to the birds and therefore wouldn't have made any usable shots to be posted. 

[mark smyth]

Cute Pacific Black Ducks, Paul.

[Paul T]

Thanks Mark.

[Paul T]

A wren in our garden (sitting in a lilac to be precise) this morning.