Iposted this yesterday but it wasn't showing up on my other computer when I checked for comments today - hope y'all see it this time.
A while back I promised you snakes and then due to the computer crash I didn't deliver beyond a single outtake. Well the snakes I promised will come this week but first here's the one that jogged my memory. I came across this chap sunning himself on my doorstep this afternoon and since I was coming back from a dive I had my camera and was able to grab some shots.
This is our local race of the west indian racer family, Alsophis portoricensis richardi, and usually they are too speedy for me (to be fair this is the fourth or fifth one I've seen). With no cover I was able to corner this chap and take a few photos before it mysteriously disappeared into a crevice somewhere. I did consider catching it for a better photo but I generally don't like to do that and by all accounts these guys are a little bitey. They do have a venom of sorts but not one that is dangerous to humans, usually causing mild swelling and very, very occasionally a hyperallegenic person will be unlucky enough to need hospitalisation.
Interestingly at the very end of this encounter as I tried to get one or two more shots before the snake made it to cover it reared up and flattened its head like a cobra. Cobras of course are not native to this area but I suspect the idea is to make the animal look bigger and hence more dangerous. More snakes soon.
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