* The Weekly Image Thread 21 11 29 #625*

It looks big... What species is it?

Dangerous part of the world you live in. How many people are killed by snakes in a year?

It's a Carpet Snake. Nearly full grown, probably over 2m long. She looks well fed.

They are quite docile but do bite if you mishandle them. Although non-venomous their mouths are a cesspit of germs and you can get a nasty infection. Just recently a good samaritan saw one stretched across the road and stopped to move it to the bush. He thought it was a good opportunity to make a video to post on social media.But he was chatting for too long before releasing it and the snake got fed up of being handled and bit him on the arm severing an artery. So always remember - no good deed will go unpunished. :-D

Dicky.

Snakebite deaths are one of those urban myths - in reality on average two people a year are killed by snakebite in Australia. The usual killer is the Eastern brown snake; its venom and the quantity it delivers make it the worlds most dangerous snake. Again most people are bitten when they attack the snake - not the other way around.

Nightjars are very shy, I have only ever seen one and didn't get the chance for a pic.

Thanks WN, Yes I got quite close - about five metres away. With a shorter lens I could easily have got much closer without disturbing it. This one only flies away if you get within a metre.

DickyAus said:

It's a Carpet Snake. Nearly full grown, probably over 2m long. She looks well fed.

They are quite docile but do bite if you mishandle them. Although non-venomous their mouths are a cesspit of germs and you can get a nasty infection. Just recently a good samaritan saw one stretched across the road and stopped to move it to the bush. He thought it was a good opportunity to make a video to post on social media.But he was chatting for too long before releasing it and the snake got fed up of being handled and bit him on the arm severing an artery. So always remember - no good deed will go unpunished. :-D

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No sh*t! It has that big and sharp teeth?

I'm fascinated by snakes, but I'm glad we only have one poisonous one and it's not large, about half a meter. Can kill you though, but mostly it doesn't. I've always been afraid of it with dogs. They might think it's a cool thing to play with. My last dog weighed a little over 40 kg and I maybe 55. No way I could have carried him for any longer distance. Which is the recommended way to handle it. Keep as still as possible, get to a hospital quickly. One of the girls at confirmation camp was bit without noticing. She was in a bad state when it was discovered during the night that she wasn't well, week, confused, not talkable . She could have kicked it had she gotten a little later to the hospital, so it was lucky her roommate woke up and sensed something was wrong. Scary stuff.

Just 1½ month ago and it almost looks like summer and there ware still some green leaves.

The white building is the Academy Mill. Suppose the professors ate a lot of bread.
No, the uni got the profit from it. It also housed a sawmill and a pump thingamajig that provided water for the well up at the castle. I wonder if they really drank the water from the loch. Of course it wasn't polluted in the way it is today, but still. Lots of cows and pigs had taken a dump in it probably. It's actually on an island that isn't bigger than the house, there's water flowing around it. There's a fall too, I think you can see the water sort of ends just before the building. That's were it falls.

Now it houses part of the county museum that's spread out in several buildings all around. I once say a fascinating photo exhibition there. American indians photographed by a Swedish photographer I've forgotten the name of , late 19th century I think. The prints were so big the portraited indians were taller than me. That's the only time I've seen prints from really large format IRL. Could almost feel the silver and I could see every detail in the chief's headdress. I dreamt about a large format camera for years after that.

meow said:

No sh*t! It has that big and sharp teeth?

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Actually the teeth aren't that big - he was just very unlucky. :-(

No glass this time, I think. They look very sharp.

A really picturesque scene Charlotte with lots of detail especially when viewed full size.

What is the white object surrounded by weed in the middle of the river in front of the mill?

Dicky.

DickyAus said:

A really picturesque scene Charlotte with lots of detail especially when viewed full size.

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Yeah, some things they do well. The little park along the stream (to the left) has been cleaned up and now have benches and tables and further upstream, after the bridge I'm standing on, they've build a broad wooden pier that's very popular both days and evenings. Makes a lot of difference. Now there's people there late into the nights the warm part of the year.

DickyAus said:

What is the white object surrounded by weed in the middle of the river in front of the mill?

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I wondered the same. I think it's just some plastic junk, a plastic can or bottle. It doesn't look like a buoy.

Thanks, WhyNot. The low sun and 5 o'clock sunsets make it so convenient. I imagine I'll make quite a few in the next few months.

I like the audience picture, too. I wouldn't have made it if I hadn't had a second camera ready with the 12-100. I had to get into the car to get it as the right door opened over a drainage ditch full of just what e.coli like. I won't get such a low-slung car again. When the hawk flew, I turned around and they were gathered, watching me. The sky and backlight were photogenic. I walked the 50 feet back to my car and they turned their heads to follow me. They stared at me as I got in and out of the car, then walked around it and up to them. I had a pleasant little Rod Serling moment.

I am entirely satisfied with my 100-300...except, I bought it a few months before the weather sealed Mk 2 appeared. I haven't given up on it. It remains in my small bag, always with me. I only use the ZD 150 because: It cost a lot of money. I look almost impressive with that enormous mass up against my face (even more so if it's on the E5). The M1.2 (but not the M1.1), and the E5, will will auto focus it so quickly it is startling. And, it makes the best pictures I have ever got from a lens.

I can't justify the cash for the MZuiko 300mm f/4 + 1.4x. Dicky's great pictures at ridiculously slow shutter may eventually break through my thrifty nature. Rich

I thought you said roos are rainproof.

Lots of carpet pythons here. All bred for around fifteen generations to make mild mannered pets. They don't get too big, so like royal pythons, lots of people have them. I would buy babies, raise them up hand fed, and sell them for a fortune. Poke them in the nose with a thawed rodent, they open their mouth wide and wait for you to stuff it in.

OK, it's not a carpet python. It's an anaconda, a twelve footer, bred to be a pet. Same thing, different snake.



Message for The Boss: If you put a finger under its chin, it will come up your arm and wrap around your shoulders. They like to soak up the 37°. Please have Dicky make pictures.

Rich

The last time a snake got into the house the Boss packed a suitcase and was moving out until I removed it. Ah! an opportunity gone begging... :-D :-D :-D

A two metre carpet snake was trying to get to the swallow's nests in the front porch when she stepped out of the door. Her scream shattered windows in a 2k radius.

Fangs, not teeth. Yes, big and long.

Very pretty scene. Good color.

That is a beautiful picture, Charlotte. It looks like a post card. Rich

A wonderful image and nice story about the location.

Beautiful colour and lots of detail Charlotte. I like it but it's not really a loch. More like a pond.

Dave