It’s spring! In the bush, dead spars of tree trunks have sprouted flamboyant purple head-dresses as Hardenbergia stems have reached the top and found the light.
In the garden the winter bulbs aren’t even finished, the spring ones haven’t started; there are many clumps of green strappy leaves gathering food for the bulbs for next year—so I can’t mow these areas yet.
But I won’t be weeding by hand after spotting amongst several of them the tail end of my apparently resident red-bellied black snake.
It’s now a case of where haven’t I seen it yet.
Love the name ‘black racer’, DWG; I think you can keep the rattlesnakes on your continent though. I wish my black snake would leave – just race off elsewhere – not sure how many more ‘living hecks’ I have in me!
P.S. I really appreciate – as I’m sure do other readers – your input, with these fascinating glimpses of a garden, and nature, in another country. Thanks!
Well it is obvious the snake story to come hasn’t rendered you helpless or anything so dreadful, so I will be set to read it. It just so happened that while weeding with the weedeater in the the tall grass last week up at my mother’s homeplace, a long black snake with light colored stomach just slithered out and away from me and scared the living heck out of me. Looked like a harmless black racer, but it could have been a rattlesnake or a python by the scare it gave me. The only one I saw all summer and I usually see many and they are always leaving….Anyway…looking forward to the Snake Story!!!!
DWG
DWG, naughty Trevor was pulling our legs, re-naming the red-bellied black.
And I am keeping an eye out for the python on the verandah, now that the weather has warmed up,don’t you worry. But I’m afraid there’s another snake post coming soon.
What is the difference in a black backed, black sided red snake and a
red bellied black snake?? Either way I had to close my eyes to look at this post…my least favorite thing on this earth!! Be very careful ..and by the way where is that python these days?? DWG
Thanks for the I.D. correction, Trevor of the delightfully twisted mind!
Gee Sharyn, they’re actually black backed ,black sided red snakes. I’m sure I’ve told you that before! Regards, Trev.
ps. Hope to attend the Spring Thing at Laguna Hall. Havn’t heard “Short Deaf and Blind” for years and years.