EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Review WOW!

Petie53 wrote in post #18324117
Dave - I know you have a wide variety of poisonous snakes down there. What kind is that? Yea really a shame it wasn't fully in focus as is a very interesting color patterned snake. Would backing up have helped?

That is a Red-bellied black snake. Officially deadly, but last recorded death was around 1880 and medical knowledge was obviously nothing like today.
If bitten around 50% of victims go to hospital and about 50% of those still show symptoms after 3 days. So slightly more dangerous than treading on a rusty nail.

This is the first time I noticed the red scales are only half red.

bidkev wrote in post #18324859
Well, I'd be backing up pretty sharpish! It's a red bellied black. They actually do a pretty good job of killing/eating more venomous snakes such as the world's 2nd most venomous the Eastern Brown. I actually had a Brown sunning itself on my pavers this morning. Luckily I spotted it before I let the dog out.

On another occasion I had a red bellied black climb onto my kayak whilst I was out fishing one day. I was looking at my rod tip and hadn't seen it climb in. I only noticed it when I started pulling a fish in. It was just sat on the bow sunning itself till it got a swipe with the paddle They're amazing swimmers.

I have seen them swimming across this pond a few times.

It's the time of year Powerful owls are looking for a mate or calling to announce their territory.
This is a lone female, keeping about 1/5th of 1 eye on me.

[QUOTE=Choderboy;18324​860]That is a Red-bellied black snake. Officially deadly, but last recorded death was around 1880 and medical knowledge was obviously nothing like today.
If bitten around 50% of victims go to hospital and about 50% of those still show symptoms after 3 days. So slightly more dangerous than treading on a rusty nail.

This is the first time I noticed the red scales are only half red.

bidkev wrote in post #18324871
That little spider is hitching a lift

Photo bombing the snake

bidkev wrote in post #18324859
Well, I'd be backing up pretty sharpish! It's a red bellied black. They actually do a pretty good job of killing/eating more venomous snakes such as the world's 2nd most venomous the Eastern Brown. I actually had a Brown sunning itself on my pavers this morning. Luckily I spotted it before I let the dog out.

On another occasion I had a red bellied black climb onto my kayak whilst I was out fishing one day. I was looking at my rod tip and hadn't seen it climb in. I only noticed it when I started pulling a fish in. It was just sat on the bow sunning itself till it got a swipe with the paddle They're amazing swimmers.

Kev, beautiful serpent and it got me reading about the Cane Toad and the havoc it's brought to your land.....very interesting....to me because a repugnant little toad can bring down such a mighty snake.

Northern Flicker, a male Yellow Shafted variety. The first one I have seen this year.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/TGng​kL

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18324896
Kev, beautiful serpent and it got me reading about the Cane Toad and the havoc it's brought to your land.....very interesting....to me because a repugnant little toad can bring down such a mighty snake.

Yeah mate. My youngest son is autistic and obsesses about the danger of the cane toad. If he lets the dog out in the garden he stands out there with him until it wants to come in and he never lets the dog off the lead even on the beach as he's read about the blue ring octopus. No amount of reassurance that deaths are rare calms him. Crows are so clever that they've learned to turn cane toads onto their back to avoid the dorsal poison and eat them from the belly.

bidkev wrote in post #18325480
Yeah mate. My youngest son is autistic and obsesses about the danger of the cane toad. If he lets the dog out in the garden he stands out there with him until it wants to come in and he never lets the dog off the lead even on the beach as he's read about the blue ring octopus. No amount of reassurance that deaths are rare calms him. Crows are so clever that they've learned to turn cane toads onto their back to avoid the dorsal poison and eat them from the belly.

And you wonder why we think everything in Australia is trying to kill ya.. I have always wanted to come for a visit.. Then I remember I hate spiders and snakes !!

bidkev wrote in post #18325480
Yeah mate. My youngest son is autistic and obsesses about the danger of the cane toad. If he lets the dog out in the garden he stands out there with him until it wants to come in and he never lets the dog off the lead even on the beach as he's read about the blue ring octopus. No amount of reassurance that deaths are rare calms him. Crows are so clever that they've learned to turn cane toads onto their back to avoid the dorsal poison and eat them from the belly.

Man aren't the crows brilliant!
Many a year ago in my area the Cherokee indians would skin the toads, dry the skin, put it into a stone mortar and turn it into a powder
then snort it; hallucinations would result giving the 'medicineman' insight into the world
' bufotenin originates from the Bufo genus of toads, which includes several species of psychoactive toads'
Yep, toads are amazing in their own way.

Ain't it the truth, that's why when in NZ I didn't even consider Oz
I'll take bears and moose anyday over Tigers and Browns, now add the red-bellied black snake to the list!

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18325658
Man aren't the crows brilliant!
Many a year ago in my area the Cherokee indians would skin the toads, dry the skin, put it into a stone mortar and turn it into a powder
then snort it; hallucinations would result giving the 'medicineman' insight into the world
' bufotenin originates from the Bufo genus of toads, which includes several species of psychoactive toads'
Yep, toads are amazing in their own way.

Co-incidental and way off topic but with regards to Cherokee and "snorting" I've sold heaps of my San pedro cactus to young folk and it's only when I googled "san pedro" and kept getting hits for "magic mushroom" sites that I realised why it sells for $1 a cm here. I get $20 a pad for prickly pear here also as I'm the only person in Qld selling the rare Indica species as all other varieties are illegal here. The sales funded my purchase of the 6D and I've got someone coming from interstate to buy 30 pads on Saturday so another lens may be on the horizon

Couple of birds fishing at the Orlando Wetlands in Florida.

Pondrader wrote in post #18325544
And you wonder why we think everything in Australia is trying to kill ya.. I have always wanted to come for a visit.. Then I remember I hate spiders and snakes !!

If I recall correctly, the late-great Terry Pratchett spoofed Oz in one of his books (ah, this one: https://en.wikipedia.o​rg/wiki/The_Last_Conti​nent), and noted that every animal there basically had too many legs, wanted to kill you, or both

sploo wrote in post #18325751
If I recall correctly, the late-great Terry Pratchett spoofed Oz in one of his books (ah, this one: https://en.wikipedia.o​rg/wiki/The_Last_Conti​nent), and noted that every animal there basically had too many legs, wanted to kill you, or both

Ya lol, I think I'm going to enjoy it here on these pages lol.