Snake at Home

[balarila]

Found this snake coiled around a plant near our front door.

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Other/Stuff/2011041701180301/1260752936_VbBxHST-L.jpg

I think it's a python so it should not be poisonous but was not very sure. Tried driving it away with a stick; didn't want to kill it but just make it go out into the nearby forest.

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Other/Stuff/2011041701194803/1260760681_xNpzX7K-L.jpg

But it kept coming back into the garage. When I tried to prod it with a stick, it started attacking. Had no choice but to whack it. Was not sure if it's poisonous or not.

Later, I noticed that there were no more tree frogs in our lanai (which used to have about a dozen of the nimble light-brown creatures).

[joey81]

I hope you didn't kill it. Its a reticulated python. Had that for a pet a long time ago, until the terrarium broke and it went loose in the house. It was still the diameter of my thumb then. Rat infestation went down. ;)

We found it a couple of years later, as big as my forearm.

[violaine]

believe me i have this strong aversion to snakes, worms and the like, small or big.

thinking my BS is biology.

seeing a snake that big (well small), id run and shout for help!!!

[jonathanscruz68]

me too, hope you don't hurt the snake.
and yes that's a phyton, SAWA dito sa pinas, they are non-venomous,
they only attack when they have to, like defending themselves.
they are constrictor type of snake (nanlilinkis)
by it's size, they are really harmless.
but really, that snake is a beauty.
marami kasing pagkain dyan sa lugar nyo, kaya hindi siya umaalis :p
please don't hurt the snake, or maybe you can call someone who can catch her.

[jarod]

Not sure if your place is near the wood and wood odor may have lured it, I hope not as that would suck.

Wanted to have one before but I can't provide the maintenance it would need when it becomes bigger.

[jarod]

Btw, did you get it's name? :D

[balarila]

Sayang. I knew I should not kill it. Was almost sure it was a sawa. But I doubted because, first, it was too small and thin (but then it was probably juvenile) and it started snapping at me. Whacked it in the midsection and it started to bloat. Had to kill it.

Such a waste. It was a rather beautiful creature. I'm trying to assuage my guilt by classifying it as a pest. It ate all our frogs after all (or drove them away).

I'm pretty used to snakes. My other hobby is bird photography and I encounter snakes occasionally. Here's one that slithered right in front of me and decided the lizard was more delectable than me. Note the lizard's tail is cut off. I've heard of stories about lizards shedding off their tail when being chased by a predator as a decoy. I wonder if this photo corroborates that "myth".
http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/Angat-Birds/MG7273/139029339_39HWU-L-1.jpg

We also get snakes in our home quite often. I frequently catch a small bronzeback in the garden and throw them back to the woods.

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/Neighborhood-Animals-Not-Birds/MG6281/802882273_ABUpX-L.jpg

Biggest one was a mature python that, somehow, wound itself around the exhaust pipe and inside the rear bumper of my wife's car.

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Other/Stuff/IMG0746A/743062824_wANhu-O.jpg

But the killer one was a four-foot Philippine Cobra that got into our family room and took his final stand in a corner, flared neck and all. We had to call the village security to kill it. The Phil Cobra is one of the most venomous cobras in the world (far surpassing India's King Cobra).

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/Neighborhood-Animals-Not-Birds/IMG4304/253290725_6gssu-L.jpg

We never walked casually in the garden after that.

[jarod]

Bird photography - wow! You must be a very patient man. Anyway, I would always like to say keep it but again it would really depend on the scenario which oftentimes leads to battering or mutilation.

I'm a fan of snakes and that bronzeback is a beaut! Unfortunately (as always) the women in my life doesn't approve of bringing one home - aside from it being dangerous and too cumbersome to maintain.

In your scenario as you can't shoo away these vermins, better get a net with a long handle (or big plastic basin) for security reasons, better let the family know how to use IF needed.

[violaine]

@balarila,

My other hobby is bird photography
its off topic but incidentally my other hobby is likewise photography. i started before long ago during the days of Nikon FM models..till the emergence of the F5's..fortunately my only camera at that time is a hand me down Contax G2 and a 50mm f1.2 Carl zeiss jenna ddr...(it was stolen though 10 years ago).

nowadays german made leicas are not within my reach and resorted to DX Nikons..of course equipped with nikkors..portraits and macro are my only interests.

i am just curious what lens you use for bird photography.

btw, i am having goosebumps having seen your garden visitors especially the phil cobra (ulupong).

[balarila]

its off topic but incidentally my other hobby is likewise photography. i started before long ago during the days of Nikon FM models..till the emergence of the F5's..fortunately my only camera at that time is a hand me down Contax G2 and a 50mm f1.2 Carl zeiss jenna ddr...(it was stolen though 10 years ago).

nowadays german made leicas are not within my reach and resorted to DX Nikons..of course equipped with nikkors..portraits and macro are my only interests.

i am just curious what lens you use for bird photography.

btw, i am having goosebumps having seen your garden visitors especially the phil cobra (ulupong).

Yes. That ulupong was nasty. As much as I don't want to kill animals, I wouldn't have 2nd thoughts killing any cobra that strays into the house. I doesn't make sense taking chances with your life trying to be an environmentalist.

Looks like we followed parallel but slightly different tracks. I started with an old hand-me-down Canon rangefinder. Graduated into an F1, all mechanical. Still have it somewhere. Dabble with a Fuji. I now use a Canon 40D (need to upgrade!). Never could afford German.

I'm one of the short-lens boys in our bird photography group. I use a Canon 400mmL paired with a 1.4x extender so that comes to 560mm. With Canon's 1.6 crop factor, that comes to a little less than 900mm full frame equivalent. At that length, you can't handhold it anymore so I lug along either a tripod or monopod. I have friends who use 800mm! But the size and weight of that lens is just too cumbersome when you're weaving through forest.

BTW, because I use an extender, that disables my autofocus. I shoot all manual: manual focus and manual exposure. Some of my favorites (konting pasikat):

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/Boso-boso/IMG2562/238235442_M8Fac-M.jpg

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/Boso-boso/2009053009213777/549827842_gJu3y-M.jpg

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/Subic-Birds/2009022114212386/478018929_fFMiD-M.jpg

http://balarila.smugmug.com/Animals/La-Mesa-Birds/MG4355/755193430_hKWVP-M.jpg

[violaine]

@balarila,

hehe ok off topic na nga tayo but thanks posting your photos. they are great..but i cant imagine myself into the wilds looking at the ground for snakes and not above for birds!

goodluck!

[ossie]

OT din hehe


@doc,

you dont like the medical symbol? :eek:

[balarila]

OT? Heck, it's my thread. (Oops, no offense, admins...patawad). :p

Never get me started on birds!

...I can almost predict Timber making some "funny" remark on my last line there...

[jarod]

Haha, you saw it coming na...you've learned well :D

[john-jo]

That cobra is beautiful. Too bad, safety comes first of course.

I was able to catch a juvenile python quite some time ago with a half inch PVC pipe about 6 ft long, using a one-eight inch cotton string thru it and a noose on the catching end. Just pulled taut once I got it over its head to keep it immobile and caged it afterwards.

Yup. The better half wouldn’t allow keeping it in the house. Gave it to Malabon zoo instead.

* * *

Those are real fine bird Fotos, Depth of field quite good assuming an extender was used. Colors can't be beat compared to present day mass produced digi shots (with no photo shops editing).

Great work altogether ! Cheers! ;)

[balarila]

Thanks, John-Jo.

Your method of catching snakes was what we used to do when we were kids (in Malabon). But no PVC pipes then. We'd just get a piece of kawayan and fashion a wire hoop at one end and pass a noose thru it.

We used to catch dahol, fresh water snakes.