New Here Too!

[Didymus20X6]

Greetings!

I am Thomas. I am known on various forums as Didymus 20X6. Didymus is a Greek variant of my name, and 20X6 is a reference to the Homestar Runner character, Stinko Man (as you might be able to tell from my custom avatar).

I am an ophidiophobe. That means I have an unnatural and often uncontrollable fear of snakes. Plus, I neither own, nor keep, nor plan to obtain any snakes anytime soon.

So why might an ophidiophobe join a forum of snake lovers? Not to be a troll, I assure you. But mostly on account of this guy:






He turned up in the bush outside my home a few weeks ago, along with others of varying sizes. I've seen at least 3 in the 2 to 2.5 foot range, at least three in the 1.5 foot range, and one tiny one, less than a foot long.

I'm pretty sure he's a Thamnophis sirtalis, or a variant thereof.

Anyway, despite the urgings of some of my people, and my own fears, I decided to shoot the snakes, not with a gun, but with a camera. I figure they're basically harmless, and I'd much rather have them around than some of the other common species in this area, namely copperheads and moccasins.

I even tried to catch one once. You should have seen it. I had put on a thick, heavy coat and thick leather gloves, figuring that his bite might not penetrate. But just as I was getting ready to touch him, old doubts crept in: "What if I've misidentified the species? What if this is something dangerous?"

But I've noticed that they all tend to stay out of my way - except for two that seem to like the crack between my steps and porch - I really wish they wouldn't hang out there of all places!

Anyway, in my quest for information on this particular snake, I stumbled across this forum. I noticed you had a lot of great pics here, and have even shared a couple with some friends of mine who are snake lovers. So I figured I might as well join, and if nothing else, get some good information on these critters living in my bushes.