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RAUK - Archived Forum - Snake personalities

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Snake personalities:

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longcrippler
Member
Joined: 11 May 2007
No. of posts: 12


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Posted: 21 Jun 2008
Most grass snakes I see either remain coiled if they're not aware of me or disappear from sight soon after they are. There's one I've seen several times recently who moves away at first, but then either drapes herself among the reeds at the edge of the water or goes for a short swim before heading back to sit on the rocks about a metre in front of me. Is this a particularly bold individual? Is it possible that after several encounters she has grown accustomed to my scent? She seems like a particularly attractively-marked specimen, with a lot of personality, but then maybe I'm biased because I see more of her and I feel she's my friend!
jamiesamson85
Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
No. of posts: 5


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Posted: 25 Jun 2008

Bit of an anthropomorphic view isnt' it! Grass snakes being very placid could just be showing their timid nature from what I have experienced. 

However, I have found that between one of my old study sites and another researchers study site that the two populations display very different defense behaviours. Where unfortunately mine tended to poo all over me the other population were more prone to hissing. This could just be a product of age of the animals or sex.

J


AGILIS
Senior Member
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
No. of posts: 694


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Posted: 25 Jun 2008
I have had many a grass snakes over the years strike and hiss  at me like an adder  one particular on I caught would strike repeatedly at my hand and bite it but I survived keith AGILIS39624.2659953704
   LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
longcrippler
Member
Joined: 11 May 2007
No. of posts: 12


View other posts by longcrippler
Posted: 25 Jun 2008
While I consider this individual my friend I don't seriously imagine the feeling is mutual! Seriously, though, it's good to regularly see a snake who's neither motionless nor rapidly disappearing from view. I wonder whether it's partly down to the location; stones sloping down to the water's edge, then a lot of reeds. She seems to feel safe among the reeds even though she's still clearly within my view. But then others nearby disappear straight into gaps between the stones...I guess it's hard to know how a snake thinks!
GemmaJF
Admin Group
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
No. of posts: 2090


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Posted: 25 Jun 2008

I've seen grass snakes 'reed basking' also. I thought that perhaps I was just spotting them from further away so this was why I could observe them for long time as the reeds were at the bottom of a bank giving me an advantage.

One way to see snakes very close-up though is to just sit and wait. Not many  people seem to do this but I've often just sat quietly and waited at a good spot where I have seen animals basking and observed adders and grass snakes moving about very nearby completely ignoring me. Sometimes it is a long wait but the reward of seeing the animals behaving naturally in the wild has been worth it. It is a very different activity to most fieldwork. You can often tell when people say things like they have never seen an adder combat that they have never spent the time just sitting quietly and waiting in one spot. It helps if you have a general interest in bugs and things as well to pass the time. I've even fallen asleep a few times whilst just waiting to awake to find adders sat all around me, I love days like that 


Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant
Robert V
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
No. of posts: 717


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Posted: 26 Jun 2008

Ahhh, so thats why all the traps were full the next day I went there!!!

Sleeping on the job! Yep, just sitting and waiting thats the best way to see what they really get up to. But if an adder gets caught up in the laces on your trainers, keep your nerve and keep dead still, they'll soon pass.

R


RobV
armata
Forum Specialist
Joined: 05 Apr 2006
No. of posts: 928


View other posts by armata
Posted: 27 Jun 2008
Glad that passive observation is getting through to some people, it is very rewarding. During our visit in April Johannes had a male adder crawl up the leg of his jeans and calmly come out again.
I do the same with snakes here in SA watching Cape cobras at their refuge or a puff adder in ambush.
Can be like watching paint dry, but usually worth it.
'I get my kicks on Route 62'
longcrippler
Member
Joined: 11 May 2007
No. of posts: 12


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Posted: 28 Jun 2008
Thanks for the responses. The other day there were three snakes close together. One moved away quickly and immediately; one presumably remained oblivious to my presence and didn't move; the third (my friend) moved to the edge of the water and remained stretched out at the edge of the reeds for some time, as she's done several times before. Two other factors; this week her eyes have started to cloud and it seems they are less prone to move when pre-slough. And she's got a distinct lump like a boil on her side; if this is painful she could be less willing to squeeze among rocks?
I must try watching one spot for longer; I tend to combine snake-seeking with a regular five-mile walk and sacrifice quality for quantity. Many years ago, before I became "obsessed", I was sitting on heathland in Surrey reading a newspaper when I became aware of movement and saw a male adder heading straight for me. If I'd held my nerve he would have gone under my legs but I panicked and so did he.longcrippler39627.2668518519
Robert V
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
No. of posts: 717


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Posted: 28 Jun 2008

 

You might want to catch that grassie with the boil-like lump and take it to a vet that treats wild animals. Just a thought.

R


RobV

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