Monday 2 April 2012

Mike vs. The Great Outdoors #1

Hello, and welcome. Since the move to Canada I've decided that this will be the best way of keeping anybody who's interested up-to-date with what I'm up to, any interesting/exciting news and just random stuff.

So this month, Teresa and I are house-sitting for a friend's parents in Tecumseh. They are spending April in Florida, so we get to treat the house as our own, in return for collecting the mail, keeping the place tidy and cleaning up after the resident cat, and my new best friend, Sidney.

Sid likes being woken up for food. Sid does not like being woken up to have his picture taken.

Today, since it was sunny out, I went for a bit of an explore around the neighbourhood, checking out the local amenities and whatnot. On my way back to the house, I decided to cut across the hilly parkland in the middle of the estate. Half way to the top, I caught a flash of green in the corner of my eye. "Oh, a little lizard," I thought. "I love little lizards. Let's go and have a closer look at it." So I crouched down and moved into the long grass to the side of the path. I got about a foot away before I realised that the little lizard I was approaching was, in fact, quite a bit longer than a lizard and didn't have any legs. It was coiling itself around a fallen branch, staring straight at me. And I think it was rattling. At this point, my cowardice won out over my natural curiosity and I ran off up the hill, suddenly aware that there were lots of these rattling noises coming from the undergrowth on either side of me. So I went home and had a cup of tea. Mike 0 - 1 The Great Outdoors.

I have subsequently decided that it was most likely an Eastern Garter Snake I was having a staring contest with. Although it has recently been found to be venomous,  it lacks an effective delivery system for the venom. The only way it could have poisoned me is if I had allowed it to actively chew on my hand for longer than I normally allow anything to chew on me. Kind of takes the excitement out of the story, but oh well.

Disclaimer: Not the actual snake I saw. I was running that fast it would have come out blurry.

Stay tuned for more news, as and when it happens.

1 comment:

  1. I think your blog is a great idea! I'm looking forward to recipes and such! My Mike will love this! I'm going to forward it along to him as well as Salty!

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