Mollie has shed her skin

Mollie's skin hanging outside on a tree

My resident Mole snake (Pseudaspis cana), Mollie, has shed her skin. While walking in the garden, I found it amongst the tall grass at the pond, where she obviously had slithered against the stalks to get rid of it. It was in one piece and beautifully intact and when I laid it out on my TV top, it was just over 1½m long. I had it displayed there for a couple of weeks but was forced to take it out to the garden as my housekeeper refused to go near that area to clean it!

Snakes generally shed their skin several times a year, and young growing snakes shed even more frequently.  A shed skin is much longer than the snake that shed it due to the fact that the skin covers the top and bottom of each scale. If the skin is shed intact, each scale is unwrapped on the top and bottom side of the scale which almost doubles the length of the shed skin. While a snake is in the process of shedding the skin over its eye can become milky. This impairs the vision of the snake and as a result most snakes will become more aggressive due to the snake feeling more vulnerable.

Mollie has been living at my pond on and off for the past few years and is a most welcome resident  as she keeps my garden free of rats. She comes and goes as she pleases and sometimes I won't see her for weeks on end, like now in winter. She does have an old rat hole in the pond area that she prefers to frequent and I'll often see her lying in the sun just in front of it.

Whether shedding their skins or not, Mole Snakes, which are not poisonous, are normally aggressive, much more so than the harmless Brown House Snake for example. When being approached, Mollie rears up like a Cobra and hisses, which often confuses people and can spell disaster for this harmless species. Her yellow colouration (and they can be black as well) is also similar to that of some cobras, but she does not have the large tell-tale hood cobra's are so renowned for.

Cape cobras are Africa’s most venomous cobra and Mole snakes, although they can give a painful bite,  are non-venomous. If you find a snake while walking outdoors, enjoy the encounter by taking some photographs but give the animal some respect and leave it be. Unless there is the potential for conflict there is no reason to prod, poke or harass a snake in any way. Doing so is literally asking for trouble.

The way to tell the difference between these two species is to look at the size and shape of the head. The mole snake spends much of its life underground; it’s a burrowing species with a relatively small elongated head and pointed snout perfect for this lifestyle. The cape cobra has a broad head and an almost rounded ‘cheek’ or temporal area.

The mole snake (Pseudaspis cana) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. It is native to much of southern Africa, and is the only member of the genus Pseudaspis. In the south of South Africa mole snakes tend to be black or dark brown, while in the north they are brown, reddish brown, yellow or grey. Mole snakes hiss loudly and strike when threatened. Average size 1.2 – 1.6m but may reach lengths of 2m.

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White-backed Vulture

Africa’s most common large vulture, the white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an accomplished scavenger that feeds on the carcasses of Africa’s large animals and is one of a group of 8 species occurring in Africa. Its plumage is dark brown with black skin on the neck and head, making the white lower-back, for which it is named, even more prominent.

 Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

The white-backed vulture has black eyes and a strong, slightly hooked black bill, contrasting with its pale crown and hindneck. As they age, the plumage of white-backed vultures becomes paler and plainer, especially the female’s; conversely, juveniles are darker, with lighter brown streaks on their feathers.
Info from Arkive

Vultures have historically been grouped with other raptors on the basis of their overall appearance. Often seen soaring high in the sky, they are often mistaken for hawks or eagles.

However, it has recently been determined that the seven species of New World vultures are more closely related to storks than to the hawks and eagles with which they were originally grouped. Unlike all other raptors, vultures are not birds of prey. They feed solely on carrion, preferring animals that have been dead for two to four days. African White-Backed Vultures have no natural predators, except humans.

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Ground-scraper thrush (Psophocichla litsitsirupa)

Well, I'm beside myself! I've just noticed a pair of Ground scraper Thrushes in my garden this morningl! Now this might seem like an ordinary event to you, but I haven't seen them since we moved from our last smallholding almost seven years ago. I am SO hoping that they will be staying!

They were residents there, loving the loose leaf litter that I left in the garden the gardener had strict instructions that leaves were not to be raked away. I also had a 'wild' garden on the one side, with logs, wild grass and loose leaves where they would usually be found.

They become very tame, standing very erect and motionless, watching one working in the garden, ducking down and running a couple of paces from time to time, standing erect once again when they stop.

They are carnivorous and their diet consists of insects and they would also take mince when offered it.

The Ground Scraper Thrush is found from Southern to Northern East Africa. Within South Africa it is absent from the far Western and Southern parts. They normally stay resident within an area, but some evidence of seasonal movement in the Northern Cape and surrounding areas have been recorded, with influxes late in the rainy season. Other sources suggest at least partial disappearance in winter.

They build a cup-shaped nest, sometimes on a branch quite close to the ground, using vegetation, mud and spider-webs and it is lined with feathers or leaves. Three or four eggs are laid and are incubated for 14 to 15 days. They are bluish with lilac and red-brown spots and blotches.

Since I started the new garden here in 2005, I've been keeping a close record of all the birds as they started moving in - some first visiting for a while and then, as my trees grew bigger, moving in an making it their home, much to my delight.
 

So I am utterly pleased that this pair has taken up residence here!

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Nature's most wonderful treasures

The sea and coast holds a great fascination for most of us, and walking the beach can unearth the most wonderful treasures, from smooth glass to round pebbles, pieces of driftwood and, of course, the most collectible, shells. Unfortunately for these wondrous living creatures, this spells doom, as people will go to great lengths and pay hefty prices for these little creatures, which results in the harvesting of a living infrastructure which will not last forever.

 And living proof of this is the fact that, walking the beach does not often turn up many shells, and in some areas, none at all. I have sketched some of my beach finds, but nothing can portray the beauty of some of these as well as the living specimen.

I personally never buy shells from any shops and only collect what I can find on the beach and my collection dates from many years ago of collecting on the beaches of our North Coast (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa).

Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195
Pencil and ink sketches with colourwash

Today, many of our shell species are endangered, including the beautiful Cowrie shell. Unfortunately, people’s love of the cowrie shell has pushed some species toward extinction. Instead of collecting them, it would be far better to admire them where they are or look at pictures of cowrie shells. 

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Staying inspired

I don't know about you, but it can be hard to stay inspired this time of the year. It's cold outside. It gets dark really early. And gets light really late. I'm an early riser and, as much as I love winter, the cold and long darkness can put a damper on creativity. Especially out in the garden.

Image from Pinterest

So each day I spend a couple of hours searching for inspiration on the internet or scratching around in my store room, trying to find something that I can use in the garden. Isn't the image above absolutely adorable?! I've even gravitated towards my husband's workshop, looking for an old car body that I can utilise like this.

But one needs quite a bit of space to utilise an old car body like that, not very practical or so easy to execute, I mean, who is going to carry it to the garden for me? So in the meantime, all I've come up with is an old wooden wheelbarrow, which I can visualise filled with pansies,  and an old vintage seed planter, which is badly in need of some wood protection for the handles and a coat of paint on the metal parts.

I placed them in the garden and now contemplate the next move. Pansies first and then out with the paint. I can't wait to tackle these two (small) projects and maybe follow up on some other ideas I came across, like this old door and frame somewhere in a corner of the garden.

Pinterest

Or a whole lot of terracotta pots (I'm just MAD about terracotta pots!) placed on top of the wall surrounding my garden. But who will be getting up the ladder to be watering them...?

 Pinterest

But first, I'm going inside to warm up with a nice cup of hot coffee! Enjoy your Saturday!

Pinterest

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“May I a small house and large garden have;
And a few friends,
And many books, both true.” 

― Abraham Cowley

July inspiration - amazing Winter

Winter is actually SO amazing. Crisp, clear colours, the bluest skies of the year and the nights are SO black, showing off the beauty of the sparkling stars.

And don't you just love snuggling under a warm blanket in front of a cozy fire, maybe with a good book or just chatting to someone, or maybe watching TV while sipping a cup of hot chocolate? And what about those awesome winter clothes - beautiful coats and warm boots and scarves?

Snow here in South Africa rarely happens, but when it does, it just adds to the enchantment of winter, sending everybody scurrying for those coats and boots we don't often get a chance to wear here.

So here's to hot chocolate, cozy fires and beautiful boots and scarves! Let's enjoy them during our 1 - 2-month, short-lived Winter!

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New 'Winter-look' for my blog

If you've visited and thought you've landed in some strange place, don't worry, it's just me playing with the layout of my blog again! The previous bright, sunny look just didn't seem to match the cold we're experiencing here in South Africa right now. The trees are bare, the lawn is dead and yellow and only the aloes are providing a splash of colour.

And right now there is nothing I would like better than to be sitting on the beach at the North Coast, enjoying warm temperatures and the warm Indian Ocean lapping at my feet.

But don't get me wrong. Winter-time is when the ocean along our North Coast can get really wild and wooley, with huge swells and really massive waves, being the perfect time for the Mr. Price Pro surfing competion to be held in Ballito every July.

One of my favourite spots at the beach in Ballito, just sitting and watching the waves crashing down in front of me.

But let us enjoy this short winter. Winter is the time of basic regeneration in nature. Winter is also pair-forming time for many ducks. What a joyful past-time to be able to watch them in patches of open water and record their courtship behaviour! Let's get outside, connect with Nature in winter and appreciate what she has to offer!

If all you did was just look for things to appreciate you would live a joyous, spectacular life. If there was nothing else that you ever came to understand other than just look for things to appreciate, it's the only tool you would ever need to predominantly hook you up with who you really are. That's all you'd need.
---Abraham

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