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Snake personalities: |
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longcrippler Member Joined: 11 May 2007 No. of posts: 12  View other posts by longcrippler |
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! |
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jamiesamson85 Member Joined: 24 Sep 2007 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by jamiesamson85 |
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 |
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AGILIS Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 694  View other posts by AGILIS |
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
LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID |
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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! |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
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 |
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Robert V Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 717 View other posts by Robert V |
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 |
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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' |
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longcrippler Member Joined: 11 May 2007 No. of posts: 12 View other posts by longcrippler |
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. |
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Robert V Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 No. of posts: 717 View other posts by Robert V |
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 |
- Snake personalities |
