anji1971
04-28-2008, 07:02 AM
Well, as I've already shared with all of you, I released my Butler's garter yesterday. Before we left, I had told the kids that we would round up a pile of Easterns and pick our favourite to take home as a replacement. I figured it would ease the loss somewhat.
What we weren't counting on was some development near the area, with a great deal of changes in only a few weeks. There is a lot of machinery working very close to the area, and the leftover soil from construction is all being dumped within a short distance of the pond.
Needless to say, there were no snakes to be found in that location. They must have all been forced to move farther into the nature area.
So after the release, we were all trudging along, snakeless. And I was beginning to feel depressed and question my decision to let the Butler's go at all. My daughter was getting ready to cry, and it was generally a very crappy situation.
But someone was looking out for us, and when we started walking along one of the back trails, I stepped into a grassy spot near a tree, and 2 or 3 snakes burst out in all directions! So I grabbed the first one I could get, and it turned out to be a nice big female, with a lot of red on the sides. She didn't try to bite, and she was fairly calm in my hands after just a few seconds. Her colouring is different than most of the others I've seen lately -- she's more olive and taupe with these rich red side stripes.
So you can guess where she is now!!
Yup, Deejay's gonna have a 'big sister'!
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/April272008_032.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/April272008_018.jpg
She's pretty dirty right now, but I can' wait till she sheds once to see those colours come out. I'll post more pics after she's settled in a bit.
What we weren't counting on was some development near the area, with a great deal of changes in only a few weeks. There is a lot of machinery working very close to the area, and the leftover soil from construction is all being dumped within a short distance of the pond.
Needless to say, there were no snakes to be found in that location. They must have all been forced to move farther into the nature area.
So after the release, we were all trudging along, snakeless. And I was beginning to feel depressed and question my decision to let the Butler's go at all. My daughter was getting ready to cry, and it was generally a very crappy situation.
But someone was looking out for us, and when we started walking along one of the back trails, I stepped into a grassy spot near a tree, and 2 or 3 snakes burst out in all directions! So I grabbed the first one I could get, and it turned out to be a nice big female, with a lot of red on the sides. She didn't try to bite, and she was fairly calm in my hands after just a few seconds. Her colouring is different than most of the others I've seen lately -- she's more olive and taupe with these rich red side stripes.
So you can guess where she is now!!
Yup, Deejay's gonna have a 'big sister'!
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/April272008_032.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/April272008_018.jpg
She's pretty dirty right now, but I can' wait till she sheds once to see those colours come out. I'll post more pics after she's settled in a bit.