An inquisitive old fart with a camera
General observations, generally during dog walks
I sent my photo to the Serpentario. The director replied that the cute little snake was in fact Xenodon dorbignyi, non-venemous and quite common, with a distinctive red curly bit at the end of the tail that presumably develops with maturity. We don’t see snakes very often, but this is the species we’ve seen the most.
Boooring LOL
Looked to be 20-25 centimeters long. I nudged it with a stick to encourage it to move out of the middle of the path (and out of sight of birds, though extremely windy and none to be seen.
So what is it? I asked Grok.
Canelones, Uruguay: what kind of snake is this?
[Thought for 37s]
This appears to be a juvenile crucera (Bothrops alternatus, also called víbora de la cruz or yarará grande), a venomous pit viper native to Uruguay (including Canelones) and neighboring countries. snakeradar.com +1Key matching features from the photo and species descriptions:
It is one of the two medically significant Bothrops in Uruguay (the other is the yarará, Bothrops pubescens, which has more trapezoidal markings and is less associated with lower/coastal areas). Adults reach 80–150+ cm; both species have heat-sensing pits, triangular heads, and venom that can cause significant local tissue damage and other effects (antivenom is available in Uruguay via the CIAT toxicology center). gub.uy
Similar-looking non-venomous species that can occur in the same area (and also like sandy habitats) include:
Recommendation: Do not handle it. Keep a safe distance, and if it is near people or pets, contact local wildlife/rescue experts (e.g., Alternatus Uruguay or the relevant environmental authorities) for safe relocation. In case of a bite, seek immediate medical help (call CIAT at 1722 in Uruguay) — do not apply tourniquets, cut, or suck the wound.
Identification from a single photo is not 100% certain without scale counts, head details (pits, pupil shape, snout), or closer examination, but the location, size, and distinctive blotched pattern strongly point to a young crucera. If you have additional photos (especially of the head or underside), that would help confirm.
Two days ago, a dove —probably this one— flew up from the upstairs patio when I opened the door, a few feet from a similar one, dead in a corner. This morning I saw this one near the carport, relocating several times to at last find its way into the barbacoa (my workshop), out of the pouring rain, where it died. When I went upstairs, before the rain, to clean up, there was another, smaller one, dead next to the other.
Best guess is that they all got into something poisonous, maybe brought it back to the nest. But when I saw the first dead one, I looked at the nest and saw nothing there. Hard to get a clear view, but also hard to miss something bright white. Sorry guys. We enjoyed having you around.
No, this is not a black and white photo. And yes, there is a bird – above the precarious parrot nest.
Out at our chacra (mini-farm), now happily no longer ours, I discovered an unusual contribution to my working mess: twigs in the sink…
…which had fallen from the light fixture I had built above.
And there were more in the refrigerator.
It seems to have been an avian case study into where not to build a nest. I was glad for that. And I closed the screen on the kitchen window. No idea why it was left open — painting, maybe — but previously I had startled a cat that made a hasty exit through the opened screen. Ya’d think a felluh would learn….
Another of those “if you painted clouds like this, you’d be called incompetent or lazy.”
Unusual phenomenon during my local dog walk yesterday. No time to find a view free of wires, so not great photos, but also not something I remember seeing before.
Two different species of ants trying to make sense of their paths as they run into each other. No hostility I think, but there does seem to be a bit of confusion. My moving the camera all over the place doesn’t help. But neat: something we haven’t seen before.
At one of the more remote points of our dog walk, I started noticing a textured patch that gave no clue what caused it, or could have caused it. And never seemed to have had anything walk through it.
Since it seemed to occur every day, untouched, I put a footprint in the middle of it as an experiment.
And the next day find the pattern again, with no sign of my footprint from 24 hours before.
So what’s going on here?