Land/Water Wildlife

He/she came right up to the hide where I was (on my own), sat about three feet away and looked up at me for a couple of minutes and then wandered off.

 

What kind of snake is this? What other snakes do you have?

 

That is a beautiful picture! What is a "hide"? probably the same thing we call a blind. It's a place where you hide, right?

 

@Baymule The snake is an Adder or Viper, it is the only venomous snake of the three here in the UK, the other two the Grass Snake (similar to your Garter Snake) and the Smooth Snake are completely harmless.

A hide is normally a wooden building for viewing wildlife with minimum disturbance, most have seating with opening windows, some have two floors. Some reserves just have viewing screens which may be similar to a blind.

 

Driving along a lonely mountain road today I spotted this chap with a handful of younger males.

 

Not as majestic as a Red Deer, @Sheal as they are mainly Sika here.

 

Brilliant shot though @strongylodon!

 

These two have been wandering around outside my home for the last few days.

 

Couple of nice specimens there Sheal and love the colour of the second one

 

I don't know what breed they are @Kandy but they have an unusual ridge along their backs.

 

I don't think I have seen this type before either @Sheal so haven't a clue but they do look nice

I can't remember where you were talking about living on Orkney but if you have never been it is well worth a visit.We did it years ago before Mr Kandy got his aversion to big boats and we both said it would be a lovely island to move to but I do love my trees and there was a distinct lack of them when we were up there in the 80's but no idea whether that is still the same

 

Thanks @Kandy. Maybe one day Mr S and I will make it up there but one place we have to visit first is Skye. I've visited many parts of Scotland down the years but have never made it there, so that's a must for this year. Thurso, John O'Groats etc. are also on this years list.

 

@Sheal we did Skye quiet a few years ago and it was nice to be camped right by the seashore and we had some fantastic sunsets which were quiet romantic but we found it a problem taking our dog for a walk as there were signs up everywhere blocking dog walking We mentioned it to the site owner and he said that Skye was missing a trick with the lack of walking footpaths and the attitude to dogs.I think as you don't own a dog you won't have that problem

Now Mull is a different Island and is in fact our favourite for scenery and walking especially with the White Tailed Sea Eagles that nest on the island,not to mention the otters(Had otters visit the camp site on Skye) and the Island of Iona is a fantastic place to visit.

If we were to relocate anywhere in Scotland then Mull would be our first choice,but it would just be the midges and the wet stuff that put us off living there permanently

We have been to Thurso and John O'Groats but we have heard the latter is a bit of a theme park but not sure if that is correct as it has been over thirty years since we visited those two locations