I live in a tropical jungle.
OK. So I live in a little town near a tropical jungle.
But we have all the jungley things one would expect.
Palm trees. Vines. Thick foliage. Green everything (until the rain stops).
We even have a guy who sells bottled water with a recorded Tarzan yell. What could be more jungley than to have Johnny Weissmuller shilling agua?
And wildlife. No lions. No tigers. But you know all about our iguanas (pictured above) and crocodiles.
Monday morning something new appeared.
Around 7 I heard the swallow colony in pure commotion. I walked out on the balcony and saw them swooping and chattering.
I was positive I knew the cause. Monday is Marta's day to work in the garden. I thought I would walk downstairs and find her in full battle mode with her garden hose and stick doing a full demolition of the remnant swallow condos.
So, downstairs I go. But no Marta.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. And not just any movement. A slithery, supple, subtle movement.
A large snake was making a hasty retreat into the neighbor's garden.
I should say: a very large snake. I estimated it to be just under 6 feet. But it was traveling at "get me out of here" speed, so I would swear to the length.
But I saw enough to identify it. The dark brown body with creamy stripes marked it as a common king snake.
Anyone who has ever had a pet snake knows that king snakes make the best pets. And they are among the best snakes to have in your own garden. Their favorite comida includes the types of varmints most of us would like to not have around: rodents and venomous snakes (including, coral snakes). They also have a certain fondness for birds, chicks, and eggs. That helps to explain the swallow panic.
The sad thing is that the snake will most likely come to an untimely end. Humans have very little regard for even the most beneficial of snakes -- especially, humans with well-sharpened machetes. And this fellow will not go unnoticed because of his size.
He could not possibly support his metabolism in these meager gardens along the beach. I am guessing that he is an inhabitant of the laguna, displaced or disoriented. If I could have caught him, I would have taken him back over there.
This was a pleasant encounter. I have seen only two other live snakes in this area: both in La Manzanilla, and both venomous. Interesting, but not pleasant.
But La Manzanilla is rural. It plays upstate New York to Melaque's Manhattan. You can see the carcasses of very long snakes on the road to La Manzanilla -- victims of herpetolgical road rage.
The king snake has most likely survived years of such dangers. I wish Godspeed to my Monday morning encounter.
But -- it is a jungle out there.
OK. So I live in a little town near a tropical jungle.
But we have all the jungley things one would expect.
Palm trees. Vines. Thick foliage. Green everything (until the rain stops).
We even have a guy who sells bottled water with a recorded Tarzan yell. What could be more jungley than to have Johnny Weissmuller shilling agua?
And wildlife. No lions. No tigers. But you know all about our iguanas (pictured above) and crocodiles.
Monday morning something new appeared.
Around 7 I heard the swallow colony in pure commotion. I walked out on the balcony and saw them swooping and chattering.
I was positive I knew the cause. Monday is Marta's day to work in the garden. I thought I would walk downstairs and find her in full battle mode with her garden hose and stick doing a full demolition of the remnant swallow condos.
So, downstairs I go. But no Marta.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. And not just any movement. A slithery, supple, subtle movement.
A large snake was making a hasty retreat into the neighbor's garden.
I should say: a very large snake. I estimated it to be just under 6 feet. But it was traveling at "get me out of here" speed, so I would swear to the length.
But I saw enough to identify it. The dark brown body with creamy stripes marked it as a common king snake.
Anyone who has ever had a pet snake knows that king snakes make the best pets. And they are among the best snakes to have in your own garden. Their favorite comida includes the types of varmints most of us would like to not have around: rodents and venomous snakes (including, coral snakes). They also have a certain fondness for birds, chicks, and eggs. That helps to explain the swallow panic.
The sad thing is that the snake will most likely come to an untimely end. Humans have very little regard for even the most beneficial of snakes -- especially, humans with well-sharpened machetes. And this fellow will not go unnoticed because of his size.
He could not possibly support his metabolism in these meager gardens along the beach. I am guessing that he is an inhabitant of the laguna, displaced or disoriented. If I could have caught him, I would have taken him back over there.
This was a pleasant encounter. I have seen only two other live snakes in this area: both in La Manzanilla, and both venomous. Interesting, but not pleasant.
But La Manzanilla is rural. It plays upstate New York to Melaque's Manhattan. You can see the carcasses of very long snakes on the road to La Manzanilla -- victims of herpetolgical road rage.
The king snake has most likely survived years of such dangers. I wish Godspeed to my Monday morning encounter.
But -- it is a jungle out there.
