Today it's been hot and still - what I call a snakey day. Growing up on the mountainside in Clovelly, without a fence between the garden and the mountain, we always had a snake in the area and sometimes more than one. I remember my grandmother's cat, Gingernut, sitting mesmerized before a swaying cobra near the back door, and regrettably the incident ended badly, with the neighbour taking out his gun (I can't remember if it was a pellet gun, but it was a long barrel) and disposed of the cobra, no doubt thinking that he had ensured the safety of all concerned. We would have preferred to scuttle back inside and wait for it to go. On another occasion, two puffadders were amorously entwined in the same area and we stood on a big rock observing this in fascination. I still have the photo somewhere, and I was about 11 at the time!
Regular readers will know that there is still a resident cobra or maybe more in Dad's garden and yesterday it came out for a drink at the fish pond, no doubt hoping to sup on the leopard toad that was maintaining a low profile under the geranium! The snake eventually slithered back up to the upper reaches of the garden and the toad leapt into the middle of the fish pond, to see another day. Earlier on, a good-looking (meaning large and well-fed) molesnake was also seen passing by on its way up the mountain. Always something going on!
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