Saturday, September 26, 2009

CALLING UP THE SNAKES


It's been a good, productive day working out in the courtyard. I live for these long bouts of carving, alone with my thoughts .......

Well not completely alone.



As I bent down to pick up a few scraps of wood ...... hey that's not wood!


With my husband away I had to do the manly thing and manoeuvre the snake into a cooler box, slam down the lid and cart him off to the river before Bella the Foxy did him some harm. It was a good feeling watching him glide effortlessly through the fallen leaves .... poetry in motion.


27 th September: The snake has since been identified as an Olive House Snake. Not venomous at all and according to the snake expert .... a lovely little snake.

50 comments:

  1. You are much braver than I! Thanks for stopping by blog/happy place. Nice to meet ya!Your carving is amazing.

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  2. ahhh, so glad you rescued him robyn... he dropped by to tell you how much he approved of your snake carving... : )

    xo

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  3. No way! Waaaay to scary for me. Good thing I live in a country without snakes!

    Love the sneak peak at what you're working on...

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  4. Lucky snake. Many would have despatched it, venomous or not.Maybe it just wanted to see the carving?

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  5. Harmless? Dangerous? At least you let him live.

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  6. I like the way he ended up in your carving even if he went by way of the river.

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  7. Campbell Jane, I don't know about brave ....

    Lynne, it was a joy to watch it move.

    Lisa, actually they aren't that scary as long as you aren't threatening. I am weary though.

    Dinahmow, there seems to be a new awareness about snakes and releasing is encouraged.

    moreidlethoughts, I'm not sure what the snake is yet. We have a snake book somewhere ......

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  8. oooooooew! i could not have done that...you're brave and kind and protective. and can see the gloriousness of the snake sneaking off. lucky one that it is. whew!!

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  9. Robyn, I have only seen a couple of snakes in the wild and they scare me. It was so good of you to save it. I was on another site from America where they were all talking about shooting them. I was sad about that.
    Lots of love from susan in australia

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  10. My last adventure was a stink bug in the shower. I think you win. Lucky to have such a gentle rescue.

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  11. I will put bugs, spiders and so on outside, but a snake? don't know bout that-- pretty brave but I applaud you for taking it to the river.

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  12. I too wondered what sort it was.
    All of ours are venemous, some a lot more than others but we tend to let them be, Having said that over the last two very dry summers we lost three ponies to snake bite, in all my years of breeding ponies it had never happened before.
    Still too wet and cold here yet to see any.
    I just love your snake carvinga.

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  13. last year I relocated a rattler from my parents deck in florida to the yard...(my kids found it but stayed away) my dad was mad that i let it go just because it was a rattle snake. You did the right thing and i lOVE the piece you're working on.. maybe the snake did too!

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  14. Once I made a little garden for the snakes and only a few days later, one came into my living room. In Germany this happens not so often, I don't live in a snake area.
    It was, as if it wanted to say: Thanks.
    Nice event!

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  15. Very powerful to rescue a snake like this - I admire your ability to do it. I swept a small (tiny) snake out the door after the cats brought it in, and then saved it from the cats. One this big - I would probably cry with fear and frustration!

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  16. !!!! Guess there was a good vibe under that wood pile of yours for it to come and hang out with you. You are brave brave brave. I would have had to hope it would go away by itself. Luckily, we have few snakes here. We do have Slow worms at my allotment which are actually legless lizards and completely harmless and mostly do good work eating slugs and snails from the veggies. In my experience, they are neither slow nor worm-like and you always get to hear when someone finds one. Nothing like yours, though. I'm sure they are beautiful creatures, except er....... better if they stay in the forest.

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  17. Not sure about the 'manly thing' you mentioned. As a man from a country where snakes are so rare and so tiny even if you do find them, I would probably have run (with my heart in my mouth!) and made a coffee (or three) while I waited for it to move away on its own, like most blokes.

    Its the fear of something that makes men in general want to kill it; that goes for more than animals and insects.

    By the way my dog, Ziggi, who is a large black Labrador would have run a mile too, squirrels and cats scare her, shes a big loveable baby!

    regards Dave

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  18. I could not have done that, Robyn. Props!!! Thank goodness, Germany is a country without snakes!

    Your carving is terrific, Robyn!
    Have a great weekend!
    Gaby xo

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  19. That one resembles the black snake, that we have alot of here - they are harmless , but it can be quite unnerving when you reach down or step somewhere and there one is!!! I never go walking with out my sturdy boots!! LOL
    Can't wait to see the completed carving!!!

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  20. lovely indeed! Seems he felt right at home in your artwork :) He must have thought you needed a model - that shot of him in your wood is a nearly perfect replication of the undulating forms you give them! love those visitors. Snake visitors in the Medicine Cards means 'transmutation'...

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  21. I'm such a wimp. He would have sent me inside for the day.

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  22. "Lovely" is not a word I would necessarily use in this instance Robyn!

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  23. Oh Robyn, "A lovely little snake" you say? Good for you for taking it to the river...I envy your bravery!
    In all this action you also stopped to get a close up photo?!

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  24. Thanks for saving him .I feel so bad for snakes How wouls we like to have to crawl aroudn on our bellies with no hands or feet Yikes!!love his name and color

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  25. Love that snake. Great color. Good for you rescuing him!

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  26. Looks like a great start on another beautiful piece. Your little friend just wanted to watch an artist at work, but is probably just as happy back at the river.

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  27. Nice of you to save him Robyn! I would have run inside screaming!! LOL! I see them in AZ but they've not been close to me.... yet! I'd freak out!

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  28. you be brave and full of Thanda! I proud to know you!!!!

    x

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  29. He truly is a lovely fellow - good on you for offering him a change of venue rather than a life sentence.

    I love to visit your blog - but I have to admit, it always leaving me feel a bit, er , inadequate. It's such a beautiful experience...

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  30. well, your piece is awesome and the snake is a wonderful totem in animal speak it represents Death/Rebirth and the native american would say that
    it is big medicine for you, that you are very powerful!
    I have relocated tarantulas, but not snakes! very cool!

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  31. Did you at least scream first? I am sure if you look at the stats, many more people get bit by dogs, but my fear is not rational - it is inherited from hysterical grandmother to hysterical mother - to me.

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  32. Great of you to take the time out from your pleasurable works to rescue the little fellow and send him off.
    lovely blog, and beautiful works. you have a most interesting life.

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  33. Robyn, I am proud of your snake "wrangling" skill! The Olive House Snake is beautiful. You are a brave friend. I love that!

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  34. Thanks for saving the snake. Its so easy to kill something than to take the time to relocate the animal.

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  35. Here in Kansas we have garter snakes, which are tiny and harmless. However, I've had a HUGE black snake in my house that I've had a friend kindly dispose of for me. I actually wrote about it on by Blog v.1.0 (there's a link in the right-hand column). It was titled Beagles & Doxies & Snakes Oh My!

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  36. We get an aoccasional garter snamke in our basement in winter - one we kept as a pt for six months and fed it earthworms. The other we released during a warm spell (we live in subburb of New York City). I do not use herbicides/pesticides so our garden has many snakes - boy scouts come over and flip rocks and find them easy enough. One fall day while raking I had three in sight - all small. The larger ones I leave beneath the rocks.

    Great blog, my best.

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  37. They are so smooth..

    Knowing this now if you saw another,...

    would you handle one?

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  38. ok, I stopped myself from writing a hundred times OMG! - of course, I would have run in the house and not got out again until the next day with a very large stick hoping against hope, it would be gone! I commend you! :)))

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  39. Lisa at Greenbow, snakes feature in quite a few of my carvings.

    Nancy, I wasn't sure what the snake was and thought it best to release it away from our property.

    Susan, many more people are more inclined to catch and release rather than kill them.

    Kim, if it had been a flying cockroach I would have been shrieking!

    Donna, I think we all have different reactions to different things. As I said above a cockroach will bring out the ninny in me.

    Penny, how very upsetting losing your ponies to snake bite.

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  40. Lisa, now that's brave!

    Lawendula, the garden you made was an invitation to the snake!

    Priya :-0 ..... :-)

    Leslie, it really wasn't a big deal. I just guided it into the cooler box and put the lid on.

    Annie, they do seem to love my carving courtyard!

    Dave, I think you would get used to them here .... if you lived on a farm.

    Thnaks Gaby, this particular photo is of an old carving I sold last year.

    Oogleboops, yes the Olive House Snake is harmless except that it can bite I'm told.

    Karin, that's interesting that you mentioned the medicine cards. I looked through my daughters cards to find the meaning shortly before your comment came through.

    Stevie, I'm a wimp for many other things :-)

    Weaver, the movement of the snake is rather beautiful but I can understand the fear that some people have.

    Mary Ann, I really wasn't being brave. I just did it without thinking.

    Julie, lol ....it moves far more gracefully then most people.

    pjhornberger :-)

    Don, though its not a river snake the river banks just look like a place that a snake would love.

    Manon, eeeeek ... lol

    Mansuetude, I'm laughing at all the comments thinking I'm brave.... aw shucks it was nothing.

    Patrice, exactly! Just a change of venue.
    Pleeeeeease don't feel inadequate!

    La Dolce Vita, now tarantulas WOULD send me screaming though I know they are harmless.

    Kerri, hee hee no I didn't scream. I inherited my fear of roaches from my gran and mother.

    Thanks Gary, my life is more run of the mill than interesting, I think.

    Karine, no skill I promise, but thanks.

    Robert, it would have been very difficult for me to kill something so amazing. I was fascinated!

    Heather, I will pop on over to read about it.

    Thanks John. Your photos are addictive, by the way. I couldn't stop scrolling.

    Grrl, I would probably be less weary than I was. I did tickle it's tail to get it to move in the opposite direction , towards the cold box.

    Jeane, it was no great shakes... lol.

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  41. Both of these snakes are beautiful!
    I prefer your snake sculpture!

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  42. There is a strange attraction with snakes...we have lots of snakes on the farm, luckily for me I dont need to relocate any of them...I just let them on their merry way (they do give you a start sometimes though).

    Jacky xox

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  43. i think we was attracted to your lovely work with snake images!!

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  44. Snakes fascinate me, but my hair still stands on end and I feel a shiver when I see one up close. You are brave to do this by yourself!

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  45. Tantalising glimpse of that carving! And "eek!"...much braver than I would've been, although I did rescue a rather large caterpillar last week x;)

    Hope well is well in your world :)
    xx

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  46. Phew! Glad to hear he's not poisonous. Snakes are pretty.

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  47. well done. i've yet to meet a local snake who'd let me coax him into a cooler box. ours are all deadly poisonous with temperaments to match...

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  48. I LOVE (!) the photograph of your work in progress... Roxanne

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  49. bu harika resimler için teşekkürler
    dünyada doğal olan şeylerden daha hüzel bişey yoktur

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