Meet Mr. Pacific Gopher Snake.

[Shakespeare]

Mr. 5-feet-long-and-looks-way-too-much-like-a-rattlesnake-at-first-glance Pacific Gopher Snake. He crossed paths with us on a hike yesterday in the Carmel highlands (almost stepped on him):



And here are the non-reptilian sights:







And shot from about 60 feet above and away (on a bridge over the Carmel River--yay for zoom lenses):

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Shakespeare!

Wow, those are all spectacular pics!

I would have jumped right out of my skin if I'd nearly stepped on him!

And that butterfly is really wonderful!

Thank you for sharing...

:hi:

[Shakespeare]

2. Fortunately (or stupidly, depending on your perspective), I have no fear of snakes.

The hard part was trying to un-zoom my zoom lens to take a picture while simultaneously yanking my boyfriend back to keep him from stepping on it (he didn't see it). :7

[Flaxbee]

4. I'm the same way - not afraid of snakes at all -- and it freaks

my husband OUT - he's worried I'm going to be bitten one day because I find them so interesting.

I mean, I have enough sense to be careful, but I really like to get a close look if we happen by a snake.


Lovely photos, though, and the butterfly is spectacular!

[begin_within]

3. Beautiful pics, but I would have ran the other way at 90 mph if I saw that snake.

Snakes, spiders and scorpions are all :scared: to me. I'll probably never go to some places I would like to see because of them. I was at Point Lobos last week but the only animals I saw were squirrels and sea lions (and of course plenty of birds).

[Shakespeare]

6. I love Point Lobos!! We almost went there yesterday instead...

...but traffic was so backed up just to get into the park entrance that we decided to save it for another day, and went to Garland Ranch in the Carmel highlands instead. The first time I went to Point Lobos, my camera battery was dead, and I've been kicking myself ever since. We had animals practically walking up to us (deer, otters, seals, great blue herons, etc.), and no camera. I was not a happy girl.

[begin_within]

9. Some of my pictures from Point Lobos last Friday are in a thread I posted today:

Last Friday there were only a few people here and there at Point Lobos, partly because it was a weekday and partly because it was cold (although completely sunny, there was a persistent cold wind). It was still beautiful and I can't wait to go there again (though it is over 400 miles from where I live). Some pictures from Yosemite, Point Lobos and Big Sur are at this thread I posted earlier today:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7770590&mesg_id=7770590

[Maestro]

5. Very cool!

Love the landscapes and flowers too!

[XemaSab]

7. The butterfly is a Two-Tailed Swallowtail

You've also got some lupines and poppies in there.

Beautiful photos!

[Shakespeare]

8. Thank you! I was wondering which butterfly it was.

Knew the flowers--the lupine, however, is the first I've ever seen in humongous bush form. All the lupine I've seen before was low-to-the ground stuff. I like it because it reminds me of my beloved Texas bluebonnets!

I was hoping to get some bird pics, but they all seemed to have deserted the Carmel valley yesterday, with the exception of a couple of vultures/turkey buzzards.

[XemaSab]

13. Bluebonnets are a type of lupine

Lupines in California come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some are tiny annuals, and some are large bushes. Yellow, white, and blue are common colors.

You could get some for the yard. :P

[Shakespeare]

14. Yes, I know they are.

We Texans tend to be disturbingly well-versed in state flower/song/critter/etc. trivia. I can even sing the state song from memory, which is a matter of Aggie pride (GOPisEvil can, too!). :rofl:



I used to grow bluebonnets in pots--no room currently for container gardening of any kind. :cry:

[deucemagnet]

10. Cool! An Eastern Ringneck visited our garden yesterday.

This isn't my pic, but it's the same species. I shouldn't have bothered it, but I just had to pick it up to have a better look. They're very gentle creatures, and it didn't try to bite. They do, however, have a stinky musk that they secrete when they feel threatened, so it left my hands kind of funky. I guess I deserved it. x(

[TZ]

11. I love snakes

and yeah, looking like a rattler is the idea on snakes like that!
Have you ever seen an eastern king snake or milk snake? They look a lot like the very venomous coral snake...

[Shakespeare]

15. I have--they're beautiful snakes.

I once came THIS close to picking up a pygmy rattlesnake. It was sunning itself on a path in front of me, and my impulsive reaction was "oh, neat! cute!" Just as I reached down to pick it up, something in the back of my brain said "diamond pattern...rattle on tail...WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?"

:rofl:

[Midlodemocrat]

12. Oh. I thought it was going to be a pic of

you know who's junk.


:hide:

[Shakespeare]

16. !!!

:spank:






:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: