Animals around your house...

Today I had a bit of an animal adventure today. Yesterday I saw a Saltmarsh Snake and got a photo as it was escaping.
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Today I was filled with a stronger internet in finding more creatures, so I went to a local park expecting to find colubrid snakes because they are common (like king snakes, milk snakes, and corn snakes) and since very few of them are venomous.

But I encountered the beast instead.

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Some people in my city said there was an alligator in this lake, and now I believe them.

Wow, very cool sightings! I always wish I lived somewhere just a little more populated by reptiles.

Very cool

Wow, it must be amazing to be able to see these animals living wild near you!

Not something I usually see in my local park! Great photo, I hope you had a very long zoom lens .

Goodness, that's very exciting wildlife!
Very lucky you got a shot of the swimming snake before it vanished from sight, they go so quickly. We don't have very many here, only three species in the entire country and they're all fairly uncommon (I've only seen two of them myself and I spend a lot of time outside )

Jill wrote:

Wow, very cool sightings! I always wish I lived somewhere just a little more populated by reptiles.

Indeed it is really impressive, unfortunately the only animals I saw this week were big rats near the hospital cuisine 

rogerpgvg wrote:

Great photo, I hope you had a very long zoom lens .

I spotted the beast from the top of a steep ledge leaning downwards so I was a good ways up when I took the shot. Thankfully my phone has a good camera.
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I think his eyes were bigger than his stomach, he shouldn't be hungry for a while. The earthworm was longer than he is!
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Hello,
in our garden we have sometimes a badger.
Benno.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Gecko08 wrote:

Today I had a bit of an animal adventure today. Yesterday I saw a Saltmarsh Snake and got a photo as it was escaping.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Today I was filled with a stronger internet in finding more creatures, so I went to a local park expecting to find colubrid snakes because they are common (like king snakes, milk snakes, and corn snakes) and since very few of them are venomous.

But I encountered the beast instead.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Some people in my city said there was an alligator in this lake, and now I believe them.

that's a good photo of a beautiful snake! I can see patterns on his body,
and the little alligator is gorgeous! (looks like a juvenile - baby to me ?)

pipsxlch wrote:

I think his eyes were bigger than his stomach, he shouldn't be hungry for a while.  The earthworm was longer than he is!
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that's a good photo! the lizard looks very focused on his meal :)

Babdo wrote:

Hello,
in our garden we have sometimes a badger.
Benno.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

what a privilege Benno! great pic by the way!
do you put any kind of food/snacks out for the badger ?

These are great neighbors! Kelly, is that a fence lizard? He looks absolutely lost in the sauce, as they say.

Seeing a badger in your garden must be a real treat!

I met this friend the other day at work. You must forgive the bad quality, he never stopped moving and was quite strong, and so I couldn't get a good photo. He was running across the parking lot. "Running" used loosely - the above ground gait of the mole is unusual to say the least. I have never seen a mole in person before, certainly did not expect to see one hurrying across a parking lot in broad daylight! I moved him to a more suitable location across the street. He was much faster than I would have expected, but still easy enough to catch. Dangerous for a creature like that to be out and about on the asphalt. He went away unharmed. :)

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Weird encounter. I saw a mole a long time ago and it was much smaller than this one. I love its paw.

Yes, he's a fence lizard Anolis sagrei. They're super abundant around here. I love the lizards and watching them, but never saw one take an earthworm before.

So many fun experiences! At least your badgers look very nice... like they'd invite you for tea. The ones I've met here would happily dispose of you without asking questions.

But I gotta admit... that mole takes the cake! I wonder what he was up to? Very forunate he was able to cross paths with someone who could help him to safer paths.

That mole is really neat, isn't it? Love the shovel feet and how soft the fur looks. I've only ever seen dead ones left by cats.

Today we drained our turtle pond at work (and refilled it, just a drop to find turtles and do a little cleaning). Turns out this year was a great year for salamanders in that pond! We found hundreds of larval salamanders, mostly shovel nosed but the one I got a picture of might be a seal. Whatever it is, it was really really small and really really cute! Even though these guys live in our turtle pond, they are wild animals and are neither introduced or cared for by us, just part of the natural ecosystem.

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That is so neat! Salamanders are such an underrated animal. A very cool encounter!

Very cool

Is it the first image of the telescope James Web?
I was sure we could find life on other planets with this fantastic new space tool.
What's the alien thing next to the right hand of the creature?
Fantastic picture, I love the delicate limbs.

They are quite alien looking. So is the mole, actually. Turns out Earth is a planet in space full of alien life forms after all.

Maybe someday soon I’ll find a salamander…

The reptiles around my house have been pretty active for the past few days.

First a Gulf Coast Box Turtle. I fed it some apple since that’s part of their natural diet.

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Several years ago I found a baby GC box turtle in my backyard and I believe it may be the same box turtle since there’s no way it could have left my yard and it’s too big to fit through my fence now. I believe it currently lives under the shed in my backyard. A nice permanent resident. Maybe I can get him to pay rent.
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Secondly, a green anole munching on some kind of insect.
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And lastly a Pine Woods Snake.
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They are elusive, but they’re one of my favorite snakes to find and handle in my yard (even though they are mildly venomous). The venom that they possess is used to take down incredibly small prey and it’s harmless to a human’s system. Even then it doesn’t really help them since they are eaten by almost everything else in the environment.

What great critters to have living in your yard! It's so neat that you have known that turtle from when it was a baby. Pine woods snakes are really lovely, this one has especially interesting markings on its face.