Here in the US at least, if not internationally, we have the on-line "Darwin Awards" for those stupid enough to be done in by nature or other acts of their own stupidity. On Fri, Nov 1, 2013 at 8:35 PM, Ceridwen Lloyd <ceridwen@internode.on.net>wrote: > Already wrote too much that wasn't bulb-related! So I won't reply to the > list at large. > But yes, red-bellies in particular are bad for dogs, dead in 20 minutes > and with antivenene about $1100 a shot at the vet and often more than one > needed, you'd better really love your pooch. Witless terrier was growling > at me from under the roses a couple of Christmases back and I thought "oh, > she's got a rat" but when I hauled her out I thought "oh she's killed a > snake" then realised "oh she hasn't yet quite killed a snake". So my > christmas present of a ladies 410 shotgun was used to despatch the mortally > wounded but still very dangerous creature, only a two-footer but when we > lived closer to a national park we had a resident as thick as my forearm. > The browns are deadly from day one and they love to lay eggs in mulch, so > late summer is a time to avoid poking around in it. Normally you leave them > alone (it is illegal to kill one actually) and there are a few > snake-catching businesses who charge more for a home visit than I'm allowed > to! (Though I guess Australian medical cos > ts are lower than the US, different system and all that) > No human deaths for a long time - and the last few have involved alcohol > so I guess that's just evolution in action. > But they do give me the heebie-jeebies a bit - it's not just sun > protection that always has me in long pants. > > On a bulb-related note, I have been thrilled with the germination rates > from my bulb exchange seeds, even ones not planted for a few seasons. > Mostly I have liliums and even the more picky US ones have at least poked a > few seedlings up. I have just potted up the survivors from I think my very > first received seed, SIGNA, alophia lahue and cypella coelestis, though > when the plant stand was blown over in a gale and I had to rescue what I > could things became jumbled - there's a pot called "viridis" that is either > lachenalia or ixia, have to wait and see. > The only part of the US I've visited was Baltimore - for a few days just > after Christmas on the way home from eloping to France - enough years ago > that all the young black kids on the train had pagers!! > We visited the Smithsonian to see the moon landing crafts and the > supermarkets to see a cross section of the real life, but wrong time of > year for flora. > Now when I think of travel anywhere it's not really for the culture, it's > to see the trees! (I had expressed a desire to go to Sakhalin island to a > Russian patient, who just have me a look and remarked drily "you like > bears?") > > Best > > Ceridwen > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On 2 Nov 2013, at 10:15 am, Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net> > wrote: > > > > Ceridwen, I wonder how many non-Australians know what the Australian red > bellied snake and the brown snake are. Your casual references to them gives > no indication. Both are members of the same family as cobras, mambas, > kraits and coral snakes among others. According to the wikipedia entry for > the brown snake, it is the world's second most venomous land snake. > > > > Your poor dogs! > > > > Jim McKenney > > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA where we have local snake species > called red bellied snake and brown snake - ours are strictly of the > harmless garden variety. > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- * * * *