Air temp 32degC, pool temp 30degC

Having our first really hot day of Spring today. No wind yet, sea turquoise. Days like this I really know why we like living here. Ask me again tomorrow when the South-Easter is howling, and I may have to think about it.

Cape Cobra

When we came back from the beach yesterday morning, Sarah shouted "Tommy's got a snake!" when she got the beginning of our path (first, as always). I thought it must just be a large lizard, and that she probably just saw the tail-end of it. But no. It was a small Cape Cobra. Tommy (Sarah's cat) either just saw it, or had been annoying it, but Sarah said he jumped a foot or two backwards into the air. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have been bitten, and he ran off without having to be closed up. Common sense. We closed Honey up just to be sure she didn't get too close.

I got a pole and the braai-tongs and a bucket and thought I'd do a Crocodile Hunter impersonation. Unfortunately, the little snake (30cm or so) was under a bush, so I couldn't get to it easily. I know you have to hold them down behind the head so that they can't bite, but doing that on soft sand didn't sound that easy. The snake had it's head up and flattened and was striking at the pole when I got too close. I just couldn't get to the back of its head with the braai-tongs (which handle was also a bit short for my liking).

So I forgot about Crocodile Hunter and did Damsel in Distress instead. I phoned the neighbours. I told them I wanted to try to catch the snake rather then kill it, but when they arrived with only a sharp spade, I knew the poor snake was history. Long story short, they confirmed that it was indeed a Cape Cobra (very poisonous), and killed it.

I am so, so cross with myself about this. The poor snake was only looking for a mouse or something, and ended up dead. Of course, I am justifying it to myself that I won't be very comfortable with kids and cats all over the place, thinking that there could be a deadly snake in the garden. Not that I would know if there are any anyway, as they obviously lay low most of the time (pun not intended).

In our 5 years here, I've never seen a snake close to the house, so maybe this poor little one had strayed a bit farther than normal from it's territory (are snakes territorial?). Let's hope the rest of its family stay away from our dune. It's horrible to just kill a snake on sight (even if you KNOW it's dangerous). There's no line that says "your space", "my space" and because of my ignorance of what to do, the snake ended up dead. It might just happily have slithered away never to be seen again, but just because I DON'T KNOW anything about snakes and their manner, I can make myself believe that killing it was the only option. People fool themselves about all sorts of things all the time. Ignorance is bliss and all that....

Flying Spiders

We've got spiders flying all over the place this morning. Nice still day (so far), and very hot so there are nice thermals for them get up into the air. When you look up into the sky, there are little strands of white spiderweb all over the place. There are a few swallows flying amongst the spiderwebs too, but the little spiders are so tiny, I don't know if they make much of a snack. The other day when we were driving back from Vredenburg, there were strands of spiderweb blowing from the telephone-lines all along the road. I wonder where all these little spiders hatched and where they are going to end up. Some of them are really high up in the sky so they could end up far, far from here.

I don't know anything about which kind of spiders do this, or if they all do. The only reason I know that spiders do this at all if from Charlotte's Web (the movie). Must look it up. They more you learn about things, the more you discover how little you know. Life is one long learning experience.