Another use for a bird bath

[TonyW]

056A9396 by tonyw36, on Flickr

[Kodiak]

]tonyw

Wow, cool take! Obviously, this fellow needed cooling!
How did you react when you found it? Was it possibly dangerous for you?

Ad a nordic man, I never had much to do with snakessss… I'm am sure that
shot of yours is better than any I could have attempted because I would be
shaking my gear to hell!

[TonyW]

Thanks, Kodiak. This is a carpet python, not venomous and pretty harmless to people. One did snap at me the other day though when I tried to chase it off the middle of the road. They are quite common around our place, good for keeping the rats and mice down.

[deetheturk]

Wonderful capture Tony, he looks rather big for that bath

David

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, I'm sure the birds don't agree with your assessment.

[bnnrcn]

Nice image but the snake looks disgusting

[chauncey]

This is a carpet python, not venomous and pretty harmless to people

Gee Tony, that being the case, why not lay it out in a "golden spiral" position...would make a great shot.

[rpcrowe]

Although most rounded head snakes (coral snake being one glaring exception) in my part of the world are not venomous. The corollary to this; that all snakes with squared or triangular shaped heads are venomous, is not absolutely true.

Here is a way to identify venomous snakes that I will leave to someone else... "Look for the heat sensor. Some venomous snakes in the U.S. will have a small depression between the eye and the nostril. This is called a pit (hence "pit viper"), which is used by the snake to sense heat in their prey. Coral snakes are not pit vipers, and lack this feature." MY TAKE ON THIS: I guess that if you cannot see the "pit" between the eye and the nostril, just put your face closer to the snake. Then if you see the pit, say a quick prayer...

[IzzieK]

No matter what anyone says, snakes are eeeeaaaawwwwww.....My ex-sister-in-law used to hit them with a stick. It cannot possibly be that hot there yet being spring...your shot looks good bu I wouldn't dare go near it...

[pnodrog]

A great shot.

Just as well I booked my air ticket to Australia the other night. If I had seen this first I may not have been so keen. My son whom I am going to visit told me about a carpet python that was found chained by the mouth to a kennel with the little dog nowhere to be found.

[Ziggy]

That is a cool shot.

What do you think the length of the snake is?

[FootLoose]

It cannot possibly be that hot there yet being spring...

We just had 2 record-breaking September days - 35c.

[TonyW]

Binnur and Izzie, how could you say such things? This snake, as with many others, is quite beautiful.

Chauncey, I have not tried to curl up the snake as per your suggestion but a couple of times I have had to grab one and pull it away from our chooks. On one occasion, there was a larger snake in our lavender patch which I wanted to photograph. I had to move it a bit so that its head was visible and so put my hand under its body to urge it along. It's weird to feel the muscles rippling underneath it as it moves.

Jim, it's hard to tell the length of this snake but I would guess around 2 metres. We have had them over 3 metres.

Thank for all the comments.

[Marie Hass]

It is a beautiful snake. The scaling/patterning is just lovely. I have a great respect for these creatures.

'Rie

[Stagecoach]

That's a great way to cool off, great capture Tony.