You will no doubt agree with me that the story about St Patrick ridding the Emerald Isle of snakes was yet another Papal Plot. Its purpose is lost in the mists of of the bogs but it was probably just a ruse to reassure visiting emissaries. Anyway, I’m glad the myth is now revealed in all its mythness.
‘Snakes first evolved from their lizard forebears about 100 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period, about the same time that Tyrannosaurus rex first appeared. Early snakes were small and wormy, resembling modern blindsnakes (suborder Scolecophidia). Ancient snake fossils are found only on southern continents, suggesting that snakes first radiated from Gondwanaland—a former supercontinent comprised of modern-day Antarctica, South America, Africa, India, and Australia. Migrating to Ireland wasn’t an option at this time, as the area was completely underwater. The chalky sediments that would eventually become the 700-foot Cliffs of Moher on Ireland’s west coast were being laid down at the bottom of the sea. ‘
‘Explosive radiation of snakes in the suborder Colubroidae, including vipers and cobras, occurred during the Miocene epoch, 25 million years ago. Now snakes are found in deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains, and even oceans virtually everywhere around the world. Everywhere except Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica, that is.’
Clearly, this little chap was paying no attention at all in geography class.
Sorry, i was interested and looked it up. C&P is from here:
Bravo, I’ve just googled and found this classic piece of non-science:
“One thing these few snake-less parts of the world have in common is that they are surrounded by water.”
Hahahahahahaha! Aren’t we all?
Ye-e-es. I think what they meant was have been …since the little buggers, or something a litle more scientific, started moving out of Gondwanaland, or wherever 😀
Bravo, maybe! But if a student wrote that in a finals paper s/he’d be ridiculed.
Welcome HMB – sorry about the problem!
As for snakes – everyone seems to be scared of teh snakes here – so far I’ve only ever seen them well outside urn areas…
Janus, for sure – jsut goes to show that grammar is, after all, important, innit?
Bravo: “The chalky sediments … become the .. Cliffs of Moher..”?
Tsk, tsk. Bravo, you shouldn’t believe everything you read. They are shale and come in handy for paving the garden paths of passing boabs.
hmb. Never been to the West Coast so wouldn’t know the cliffs of Moher from the cliffs of Mohair – namurian shale and sediment, I find, after a quick google. Also a candidate for one of the new 7 wonders of the world? Must be spectacular.
It doesn’t look like a snake native to the UK, HMB, so it must have escaped from its owner.
Bravo, I holidayed there a few years ago and brought back a quarter ton of shale in the boot. I might post some pix of my garden paving.
Meanwhile, can anyone identify the species?
A corn snake, possibly.
Beautiful little snake. Are you going to find a home for it, HMB?
*I think you’re right, Araminta. A corn snake escaped from its owner. My son used to have one. They’re very attractive and come in various shades of brown and yellow.
They are very commonly kept as pets, Sheona, so I think it is the most likely explanation.
‘Snakes first evolved from their lizard forebears about 100 million years ago ….
Holy Batman …. you ain’t blamed it on the Moozleemz. Damnnnnn hope tha’s feeling alreet.
How’do all, hope all of you had a grand weekend.
Kev, wait for i-i-i-i-t 🙂
Good, thanks, great weather here in Moscow at the moment, how about you?
Oh good, you wouldn’t wanna disappoint me would ya.
Fab weekend, at least what I can remember of it …. suffering for it to day though.
Saturday managed to procure a bottle of Sljivovica, great stuff but a damned bad idea 🙂
Hello HMB
Pleased that you now appear to be sorted.
We used to catch snakes as children, we would then sell them to our local snake park, they bought the catch on weight, we used to ram small fishing weights down their mouths to make them heavier!
🙂
Kev, I’m a rakija man myself – keep away from that stuff with the congeners in it 🙂
You will no doubt agree with me that the story about St Patrick ridding the Emerald Isle of snakes was yet another Papal Plot. Its purpose is lost in the mists of of the bogs but it was probably just a ruse to reassure visiting emissaries. Anyway, I’m glad the myth is now revealed in all its mythness.
Careful, Father James might see this and start stomping his feet a la le petit Neek if he read this.
Kev, you’re right, of course. I was going to tell you the one I like most, but I’m buggered if I can remember the name of the fruit. Looks like a small, hard pear? Makes great rakija.
The only one I know similar to what you describe is Kruska/Kruskovaca …. but then this is produced with pears
Nope, I’ll google it.
Maybe it’s a baby Boa Constrictor? 🙂
Seriously though, it’s definitely of the Python Family, harmless, but with a painful bite, although I doubt this one is old enough to bite too hard yet.
Seriously though, it’s definitely of the Python Family, harmless, but with a painful bite, although I doubt this one is old enough to bite too hard yet.
Ya don’t mean Monty do ya???
dunja
Quince 🙂
Never tried it
It’s the best. Coffee and a shot of dunja with breakfast 🙂
Bravo, have you noticed that despite the fact that alcoholic beverages are consumed in great quantities the general demeanour of the people is excellent. The vast majority remain polite and hospitable even after drinking the bars dry.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Ooer HMB,
Snakes give me the willies.
You will no doubt agree with me that the story about St Patrick ridding the Emerald Isle of snakes was yet another Papal Plot. Its purpose is lost in the mists of of the bogs but it was probably just a ruse to reassure visiting emissaries. Anyway, I’m glad the myth is now revealed in all its mythness.
‘Snakes first evolved from their lizard forebears about 100 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period, about the same time that Tyrannosaurus rex first appeared. Early snakes were small and wormy, resembling modern blindsnakes (suborder Scolecophidia). Ancient snake fossils are found only on southern continents, suggesting that snakes first radiated from Gondwanaland—a former supercontinent comprised of modern-day Antarctica, South America, Africa, India, and Australia. Migrating to Ireland wasn’t an option at this time, as the area was completely underwater. The chalky sediments that would eventually become the 700-foot Cliffs of Moher on Ireland’s west coast were being laid down at the bottom of the sea. ‘
‘Explosive radiation of snakes in the suborder Colubroidae, including vipers and cobras, occurred during the Miocene epoch, 25 million years ago. Now snakes are found in deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains, and even oceans virtually everywhere around the world. Everywhere except Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica, that is.’
Clearly, this little chap was paying no attention at all in geography class.
Sorry, i was interested and looked it up. C&P is from here:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/NewsEvents/irelandsnakes.cfm
Quite interesting.
Bravo, I’ve just googled and found this classic piece of non-science:
“One thing these few snake-less parts of the world have in common is that they are surrounded by water.”
Hahahahahahaha! Aren’t we all?
Ye-e-es. I think what they meant was have been …since the little buggers, or something a litle more scientific, started moving out of Gondwanaland, or wherever 😀
Bravo, maybe! But if a student wrote that in a finals paper s/he’d be ridiculed.
Welcome HMB – sorry about the problem!
As for snakes – everyone seems to be scared of teh snakes here – so far I’ve only ever seen them well outside urn areas…
Janus, for sure – jsut goes to show that grammar is, after all, important, innit?
Bravo: “The chalky sediments … become the .. Cliffs of Moher..”?
Tsk, tsk. Bravo, you shouldn’t believe everything you read. They are shale and come in handy for paving the garden paths of passing boabs.
hmb. Never been to the West Coast so wouldn’t know the cliffs of Moher from the cliffs of Mohair – namurian shale and sediment, I find, after a quick google. Also a candidate for one of the new 7 wonders of the world? Must be spectacular.
It doesn’t look like a snake native to the UK, HMB, so it must have escaped from its owner.
Bravo, I holidayed there a few years ago and brought back a quarter ton of shale in the boot. I might post some pix of my garden paving.
Meanwhile, can anyone identify the species?
A corn snake, possibly.
Beautiful little snake. Are you going to find a home for it, HMB?
HMB,
Could it be a smotth snake?
http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/smooth_snake.htm
*I think you’re right, Araminta. A corn snake escaped from its owner. My son used to have one. They’re very attractive and come in various shades of brown and yellow.
They are very commonly kept as pets, Sheona, so I think it is the most likely explanation.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7159508238910711355#
A mate used to keep two corn snakes.
He called them ‘Fluffy’ and ‘Strangely Brown’
Pop and Ee would be good names too
or Ish
Holy Batman …. you ain’t blamed it on the Moozleemz. Damnnnnn hope tha’s feeling alreet.
How’do all, hope all of you had a grand weekend.
Kev, wait for i-i-i-i-t 🙂
Good, thanks, great weather here in Moscow at the moment, how about you?
Oh good, you wouldn’t wanna disappoint me would ya.
Fab weekend, at least what I can remember of it …. suffering for it to day though.
Saturday managed to procure a bottle of Sljivovica, great stuff but a damned bad idea 🙂
Hello HMB
Pleased that you now appear to be sorted.
We used to catch snakes as children, we would then sell them to our local snake park, they bought the catch on weight, we used to ram small fishing weights down their mouths to make them heavier!
🙂
Kev, I’m a rakija man myself – keep away from that stuff with the congeners in it 🙂
Lead weights, Soutie?!
Bravo, its the same thing –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slivovitz
Anyway you look at it, it has to better than –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_wine
Careful, Father James might see this and start stomping his feet a la le petit Neek if he read this.
Kev, you’re right, of course. I was going to tell you the one I like most, but I’m buggered if I can remember the name of the fruit. Looks like a small, hard pear? Makes great rakija.
The only one I know similar to what you describe is Kruska/Kruskovaca …. but then this is produced with pears
Nope, I’ll google it.
Maybe it’s a baby Boa Constrictor? 🙂
Seriously though, it’s definitely of the Python Family, harmless, but with a painful bite, although I doubt this one is old enough to bite too hard yet.
Quince.
Ya don’t mean Monty do ya???
dunja
Quince 🙂
Never tried it
It’s the best. Coffee and a shot of dunja with breakfast 🙂
Bravo, have you noticed that despite the fact that alcoholic beverages are consumed in great quantities the general demeanour of the people is excellent. The vast majority remain polite and hospitable even after drinking the bars dry.
The Owl and the Pussy Cat did. Together with mince. It was taken in slices, I recall.
Kev, indeed. One thing I have missed in Moscow is a decent pub.
The Owl and the Pussy Cat did. Together with mince. It was taken in slices, I recall.
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon …
Sounds to me like they were drinking the stuff
No snakes in Ireland?
Strange, we’ve known several…………
That’s Moscow removed from my list of places to be drunk in.
Deffinitely. It is the quincitential trip for adeveturers.
Or even definitely, adventurers.