The Snake & The Snail

sheila

15 years ago

CSI Port Townsend. See discussions for an explanation.

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Comments (11)

mwoods
15 years ago
What a great picture and story. That snake would have died if you hadn't helped him out. This summer when grandson was here working he called me over to look at a snake who had this huge old toad in his mouth. I picked up the snake and shook him until he dropped the toad who hopped into the woods. I kind of felt sorry for both of them. You sure have a good camera Sheila.
oscarthecat
15 years ago
great shot Sheila. Steve in Baltimore County.
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I am very protective of my snakes, Sheila. I married a man who had the knee jerk response to them, and it's taken me many years to get him over it so he would appreciate just how beneficial they are in our environment and how they are disappearing because of fear alone. The folks in my area have a 'copperhead' obsession. Every snake anyone sees is automatically a copperhead. Yes, we have them around, but I have only seen two of them in my life. And even then I just walked away from them.
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Hi Bonnie! I am going to quote my friend from her email,she is much better with wording this sort of stuff than I am!:) "......this recipe uses a higher concentration of egg. I used it and was blown away with the results. It is almost 100% effective, it works on flowers, trees, vegetables, etc. Since it is the smell of the protein in the egg that keeps the animals away (though you can't smell it), it doesn't rely on them having to taste the plant and thus nothing gets browsed. It's incredibly easy to make and use, cheap, and since the eggs are in a higher concentration, it sticks to the leaves and lasts through one-two rains, at least. Put eggs in a blender (without the shells of course) and puree. Measure the amount of eggs, then add four parts water and mix well. Put in a spray bottle and spray your plants. It's that easy. It doesn't store well, so I only make up as much as I think I'll need, and any extra left over, I spray on the ground by the plants. Any less than a 20% egg mixture doesn't seem to work well and needs to be more frequently re-applied, and anything much more than 20% egg may show up on the plants (though it won't hurt them)." Good Luck!:)
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Many years ago I lived in a tiny house with a tiny yard that had a ridiculous number of slugs. I'm not sure if the the slugs were coming from the surrounding woods, under the house foundation, or where, but one dared not walk outside barefoot in the evenings for fear of having a slug sliding up between the toes. (shudder!) Since it was a small yard with mostly rough field grass and only a few garden areas, we tried setting traps (the beer type,) but the found the traps were overwhelmed by the sheer number of slugs. We ended up getting some 6" spikes and going out on damp evenings and skewering slugs and then scraping them off into cans of soapy water which we would then be sure were full of water and fasten lids onto to drown the slugs. We also put out boards and during the day we would flip the boards and squish the slugs which had taken shelter from the day's heat. I'm not sure how much of a dent all this made in the slug population, but it sure made me feel better. Since you have kitties, Escar-Go! Slug & Snail Control is a slug bait made by Gardens Alive which is pet-safe. Don't know if that is the case with Sluggo since I do know that some slug baits aren't safe around small kids and animals. There are probably other pet-safe slug baits - this is the only one I know about. I have heard that crushed eggshells around particularly vulnerable plants is supposed to help keep out softbodied critters, but in my experience the birds remove the eggshells faster than I can eat eggs so I don't know if it actually works. Here is a link that might be useful: Escar-Go! Slug & Snail Control
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Hi Devon, Personally, I love Colorado and think it's a great place to live. This time of year, (Dec. Jan. Feb.) looking at weather.com, the average high temps are about 45 degrees F., with the average lows about 17 degrees F. I live in Westminster, about 20 miles north of Denver. It's often very breezy, or downright windy, so wind chill DOES play into perceived temperatures a lot. Generally an arid environment, so slugs are almost never a big issue here. We have small toads and a lot of garter snakes in the area, so I'm thinking they make a difference as well in controlling slugs here. If you want to shoot me an e-mail, Devon, please do, you can do it through my GardenWeb page, and if you want to ask me any specifics about Colorado, I'll be happy to answer them in good detail. Cheers! Don B.
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rob333 (zone 7b)
15 years ago
I don't think I understand. Was he trying to swallow the shell and it got stuck? Is that it? Surely the snail didn't attack him. Why is he bloody?
kris_zone6
15 years ago
Great picture!
lilod
15 years ago
Great adventure and picture - Robin, I think the snail was out of the shell and the snake tried to eat it, snail retreated, snake was hanging on and got stuck.
I always say: "Greed overcomes caution" - this is proof! :)
It is also proof that guardian angels are always around and no creature ever knows if it needs one, until it does.
sheila
Original Author
15 years ago
Lilo, that was my scenario too. The snake caught the snail out of it's shell and then got dragged in as it retracted. I imagine a snail exerts quite a bit of power pulling itself back into its shell and no way was the snake probably going to let go of lunch.

Robin, I guessed he was bloody because his lower jaw is cut by the shell. Did you show it to LF? Boys usually like this kind of thing even though they say "yuck".
rob333 (zone 7b)
15 years ago
Kinda like the proverbial raccoon trying to grab a shiny penny in a trap. I just couldn't figure out why the shell was on his head to start with. Ok.

I haven't seen LF today other than getting him off to school. Later. Yes, I show him everything! I'll report back when he sees it. I'll just show him the picture and ask him what he thinks is going on; ought to be interesting.
mawheel
15 years ago
I mus confess I'm one of those people with a ridiculous fear of snakes. It's so bad I don't even like to look at pictures -- but I had to peek at this one, Sheila. Not for very long, mind you!!!

I know my phobia is stupid and baseless, but since it doesn't usually impact my daily life, I just live with it. I'm ashamed to say that snake would have been dead, if I'd had to save him. I wouldn't have killed him, I would have run the other way! Still, I'm very glad you were there to save him.
petaloid
15 years ago
What a fantastic photo! How fortunate you had your camera with you - what kind is it?
sheila
Original Author
15 years ago
Petal, this is a Nikon D40 - very nice camera and user friendly. I can point and shoot I can control aperture, focus etc.,

I try to carry it with me, just for shots like this.
pothead49
15 years ago
good close up,can any one tell me how to post a picture,im new to the forum ,and would like to show my potting shed to get new ideas on refurbishing mine this year,also if anyone has one they are proud of and can give me ideas on please reply,GOD BLESS YOU IN YOUR GARDENING THIS SUMMER

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The Snake & The Snail

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mwoods

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