I was a critter keeper too. I'd pick up anything, when I got a bit older, I con't but at least stopped putting them in my mouth. Snakes don't bother me a bit, most creepy crawlies don't bother me, except spiders, especially their webs. I can't stand touching, or going through webs. I'm learning to let spiders live in my space. If I find them in my space, i.e. inside I catch them with the jar and paper trick.
A story about snakes:
we were in the London (England) Zoo years ago, and ended up in the cave exhibit that they had for the snakes et al. There was a crowd of about 15 people crowded in front of this one huge glass display. It housed the biggest snake I'd ever seen, I think it was a boa, but can't remember. It was about 20' long and I wouldv'e had to use both hands to encircle it and trying that know, I don't think it would fit even then. Anyway, it had climbed up the side of the glass, and was slithering along the top of the glass. There must have been a small ledge there. It was so long that it was about 6' along the top, all the way down the glass, and a bit on the ground still. This snake was BIG! All of a sudden it fell from it's perch and came crashing down to the floor of it's enclosure. There was a collective *gasp* from the crowd, and we all involuntarily took a step back. I knew my mother was deathly afraid of snakes and was wondering how she was. I couldn't find her, but the doors to the 'cave' were swinging wildly from where she had run out of the building. That was 25 years ago, and she still is as afraid of them.
How are you Elaine???
Great Canadian Superstore
ROFLOL evily here! ;)
For a minute there I thought you were going to say it fell out into the crowd. Your poor mom. My mom doesn't like spiders but doesn't get too freaked out. She likes to have snakes in the garden but I don't think she'd like to come upon one suddenly. I've never seen a big snake in real life but I would like to. Not sure if I'd want to handle one though. Every so often on the news they report people in apartment buildings finding one in their apartment. I don't think I'd like that too much either. I don't think people should be allowed to keep things like that in their homes. Mostly because I believe they should be left in the wild.
This is a bit off topic but your snake story reminded me of it. When I was about 7 we went to a zoo that a relative ran up in Castlegar. I was feeding the monkeys peanuts. Some of the peanuts fell on the ground. When I bent down to pick them up my head got close to the cage. The monkeys reached through and grabbed me by the hair. I couldn't get free. Fortunately there were some other people nearby who made them let go of me. It gave me a bit of a scare and I kept my distance after that.
Pam, I meant to tell you that I picked up a Sago Palm after work today. I was lying in bed last night thinking that if I waited until they went on sale they probably wouldn't be in very good shape by then. I totally underestimated how many of them they had. There were 6 dozen and it didn't look like they'd sold any. I'm sure they will have to put them on sale as I don't think they're going to be able to sell that many. The poor things. Oops!....there I go again. You see, I'm the same way when it comes to plants. I bought a smallish one because some of the bigger ones had all kinds of damaged roots out the bottom of the pots. I don't want it to die. It was very dry and I think it needs repotting. Did you repot yours? This is cool....a bunch of us having the same plant and bought at the same time. We can compare things and hopefully help each other with advice. I'll have to look up some information on them.
Here's a picture of it.
That's a nice healthy sago. I think that nearly any new plant could use a fresh pot when you bring it home. And if you think it needs to be repotted, it probably does. I'll sometimes wait until the plant gets established before I transplant it, but generally take the view that they're already shocked by being moved, a new pot won't hurt.
You're up early today, Christine!
I want a sago too!!!! I'm going straight to GCSS tomorrow after class.
I heard an interview on CBC the other day with a fellow from Winnipeg who was shovelling snow off his flat roof when he suddenly shovelled off a large snake along with it (!). As he describes it, he and his wife went back into the house and tried to figure out whom to call...! The proper authorities came, but unfortunately the poor thing succumbed to frostbite. They still have no idea whose house it came from.
It looks like you got a very healthy specimen Sandy! Ü
A snake outside in Winnipeg at this time of year......I'm amazed it made it that far before freezing! :S
Insomnia's my middle name these days Shannon. Amazing what you can get done between 2-6 a.m. Am thusly playing hookey today as I'd be no use at work.
That snake story's really strange. Of course, truth usually is stranger than fiction. But how on earth could the snake have lived through the winter anyway, up on a roof? In Winnipeg no less - one of the the Canadian queens of cold winters! Unless of course it was curled up around a chimney that was always pumping out warmth or something. It likely may have been dead for some time; could they tell when it died? Very wierd.
It had to have escaped that same day.
The owner had been up on the roof not too long before (several days, I think), and no snake at that time. He did say that there was no chimney but that a lot of other heat escapes from the roof as a whole, so that could be how it lived for as long as it did.
Here's the story fm the Wpg Sun (Wpg's tabloid-format daily).
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2005/01/24/908303-sun.html
Winterpeg....it's a dry cold! And sunny! I think Wpg and Regina are the two sunniest cities in Canada. Sometimes on a blah grey eastern day I wish I could be there - minus the snake.
I believe it was thrown up there......there's no way it could have slithered any distance in the cold we've been having this winter.
Personally I think Moose Jaw gets more sun than :b Regina. They get more rain and snow than us!
These past two winters have been extreme BUT we've had ~20 years of pretty mild winters with SUN! :b
It could be that whoever concocted that statistic was only considering cities of a certain size - I'm not sure. Maybe it was only provincial capitals (?). Somewhere on EC there's gotta be a sunshine stat..... gimme a sec....
Got it!
Sunniest year-round:
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/weather/winners/element.cfm?lang=e
Sunniest winter only:
http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/weather/winners/element.cfm?lang=e
You beat Regina on both counts, Pam! :-)
Edited to get my names right....lol
This message was edited Jan 26, 2005 4:08 PM
Do you mean Lynn or Pam Shannon? ;)
Those sites are really interesting saw we also ranked well here:
Hottest summers (+30C and above): http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/weather/winners/element.cfm?lang=e
One of these days we are going to break down and buy an air conditioner!
Hey Christine look where Moose Jaw is on this list:
Driest winter air
City
Rank
Value
Yellowknife
1
0.08
Thompson
2
0.11
Prince Albert
3
0.17
Fort McMurray
4
0.18
Yorkton
5
0.19
Kenora
6
0.19
Brandon
7
0.19
Winnipeg
8
0.20
Cold Lake
9
0.20
Portage la Prairie
10
0.20
Sept-Iles
11
0.20
Alma
12
0.20
Alma
12
0.20
Whitehorse
13
0.20
Saskatoon
14
0.20
Timmins
15
0.20
Val-d'Or
16
0.20
Chicoutimi-Jonquière
17
0.22
Regina
18
0.22
Thunder Bay
19
0.22
Fort St. John
20
0.23
Baie-Comeau
21
0.23
Grande Prairie
22
0.23
Red Deer
23
0.24
Campbellton
24
0.24
Edmonton
25
0.25
Québec
26
0.25
Sudbury
27
0.25
Estevan
28
0.25
Moose Jaw
29
0.26
Looks like some points down East beat us out on this one!
That was some story about the snake. Kinda sad actually. Irresponsible owners who want to own them as a novelty and when they tire of them, they just depose of them. I agree with Sandy, these kind of critters belong in their own environment, not in some bitty aquarium somewhere. I have a strong opinion about birds in cages too. Breaks my heart.
Sandy your comment about snakes being a good thing in a garden is probably right. I had just never in all of my 57 years seen one, that's all. We never had even garter snakes in Edmonton. Probably they had them in the South part of the province, Drumheller and Lethbridge, but I think just to cold up North in Edmonton. They are quite common where I live now in Southern BC. We always had to, and still do, watch for rattlers when we are hiking. So far, we have been lucky and always wear good footwear. I have heard them though. My hairdresser was telling me a few months ago, that that was the reason she wouldn't have a pond in her back yard; because they attract garter snakes. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled, so one doesn't scare me to death when I am poking around the plants and weeding and such. When I worked in a High School in Edmonton years ago, there was several snakes in the Science lab, and the Boa constrictor was quite tame and we's all go and visit occassionally. I remember holding it and being amazed at how dry they actually feel. "Ralph" the boa didn't like me much though, 'cause I would sneak in there ocassionally and fish the little terrified mouse out of the aqauarium that was left there for his supper. LOL
New Sago owners take note of what vossner said in this thread: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/481518/
Evidently the Sago has a long tap root so we might want to move ours up to a deeper pot.
Am not really a snake person but babysat one for a while so know a bit about them. Cold blooded . That snake on the roof was dead long before it got tossed off the roof. Tropical snake. Couldn't possibly live under the snow. We heated by wood then and had to move that boa to the warmest room in the house and had to make sure the stove didn't go out during the night ...... all because of that snake.
Snakes are good in gardens. I used to pay the kids 5 cents for every snake they caught and brought to the garden. These were garter snakes that used to bake on the rocks on the beach in Victoria, or on the cement blocks near the helicopter pad. Tourists used to think we were mad. These two litle pre-schoolers hunting for snakes and shrieking with excitement when they caught one.
Inanda - wishing kids didn't grow up and turn from gardens/insects/etc to .... video games and heavy metal or rock or noisy stuff anyway.
I'm curious Ginny, how did you ever end up in Winnipeg after living in Victoria. They would have had to use dynamite on me. ;-) Are your kids all grown up and flown the coup now?
Since DH and I laboured making a new pond site last fall which is made up of a lot of BIG rocks around the pond and rising up to make a waterfall, I guess I can count on a few garter snakes hanging out around my pond this summer, huh? If they like heat, they have it there. It will take me some time to get used to seeing them I guess. I can do this...I can do this...
Oh, easy. I missed the cold & snow.
Ginny
This message was edited Jan 27, 2005 7:01 AM
I'm glad we don't have to worry about rattlesnakes hiking on the island Donna.
I did a bit of research on Sago palms last night and I found out that they should be in a fairly small pot. I think they should only have about an inch of soil around the base. My plant is smaller than most of the others were, yet it is in the same size pot. I think the roots are pretty tight though because the pot kind of bulges a bit. I'm not sure whether to repot it or not. Maybe I should try to find one that's the same size around but deeper to accomodate the tap root.
Inanda...smarty pants
Oh, so cute.
On the subject of good bargains, I stopped in at our local home improvement store for a paintbrush yesterday after work, and couldn't resist getting some potted plants. The labelling was nonexistent, but for this price who cares. I came home with 2 cyclamens (not sure of the species yet), 2 primulae (which are actually three, because one pot has 2 different species & colours in it-!), a pot of purple croci, a pink-leafed vine that I've had before, whose name escapes me at the moment and a teeny-weeny succulent (in the cutest little clay pot I've ever seen) that I think is an aeonium haworthii. All for $19.56, plus tax.
Yeah, I'm a sucker for anything currently in flower....like a crow that goes for shiny things....lol Here's a pic of my booty, with Franklin investigating from the left flank.
I see your kitty thinks you got a good deal too! LoL Joelle
Franklin and I concur, Shannon. Pretty nice deal you got there.
I remember another time...........our daughter turned sweet 16, so we,.myself and her flew to Los Angeles for the celebration...the car, hotel and flight was a wonderful pkg deal! One of the sights she wanted to take in, was the Orange County zoo...now keep in mind her birthday, was in August, a 101 degrees day, We chummed about the place until she spotted the dieramma, across the way, and said, mom........I don't think to want to come in here! !@#$% I spotted a snake on the glass and started shaking, quickly escaping in the opposite direction..I, and a grandma in her late eighties, sat on a bench in that scorching sun...waiting for our kids to comeout...both of us absolutely terrified of the critters!@#$%^ E.
Shannon you are inspiring. Finally got out to the stores tonight. I'm feeling so much better now. The Everly Bothers on the radio and plants from Rona. Had a nice leisurely browse through their greenhouse and found these primroses and the crocuses for about 1.50 and the mini rose was about 5 or 6. Might not have hit 20.00 even. But what good medicine.
echoes
Thanks, Donna and Joelle! It's a tonic, isn't it Brenda? :-) A real instant pick-me-up. Small cash outlay & many happy returns!
Elaine - good thing the big ones are (usually) behind the glass, eh? :-)
Money well spent. And they can all go in the garden in a few months.
Aaaaaaaah methinks it's time to go to the store again. Flowering plants are sooo wonderful to see at this time of year!
Even just walking around in there is great....all humid, and lush, and leafy....mmmm
It looks like you each got a nice little haul there. It sure is nice to go to the stores and see all the bright coloured flowers out front. I guess they're inside most places but still we can all bring them home and enjoy them whether we can put them out on the porch or have to keep them inside on a window ledge for a while. We picked up 4 primroses last week and 2 cute little irises this past week. I imagine my mother will be bringing plants home on most of the grocery shopping trips in the coming months. She always says she's not going to buy many plants this year but just can't resist. I can't talk...bringing home several tropical plants lately.
echoes
Love the plants you got from rona
I am sure they will add colour to the garden
Plants are always good medicine,
Oh no now I need a few new plants
going shopping soon......