Comments on: Extreme sports in Umbria: Wild asparagus

By: rebecca

rebecca — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:36:29 +0000

@Rosanna…I was recently in Hawaii (Kauai) where there are no snakes–and a great climate. That said, the island is absolutely overrun with roosters, as they have no natural predators. Snakes may be freaky, but they don’t wake you at four am with their crowing.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:32:55 +0000

@Amy…no, not my photo (I think I would only have the sangfroid to snap a picture of a viper if there were a good 4 cm of bulletproof glass between us!)

By: Amy N

Amy N — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:31:33 +0000

Beautiful snake! Is that your photo?

I grew up in central Africa, where snakes were a basic and ever-present part of the fauna. We walked barefoot everywhere, through thick brush and gardens and everything in between. We were taught to always watch the ground where you put your feet, and to make noise when walking. Generally speaking the snakes heard us long before we got there, and got themselves out of the way. And we usually didn’t kill them. The only kill-on-sight snakes were mambas and cobras. In 13 years I never was even close to being bitten although I saw many many snakes.

By: Rosanna

Rosanna — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:00:35 +0000

Dam, I thought no snakes in Italy!!! HATE HATE HATE THEM!! Love asparagus though :)

By: rebecca

rebecca — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:20:13 +0000

@Letizia…betcha didn’t know you could jump that high!

By: rebecca

rebecca — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:19:50 +0000

@Melissa…we planted asparagus in our vegetable garden this year for the first time and, as so often happens, I have discovered what the super-fresh-right-from-the-garden version of the supermarket vegetable tastes like. I am a born-again asparagus fan! (Plus, no vipers in the garden. So far.)

By: rebecca

rebecca — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:17:35 +0000

@Willemijn…great video, thanks for posting the link! Since I’ve had such good luck, reptile-wise, all these years I admit I’ve become too cavalier about the gloves and boots thing, but I need to be more vigilant since now my young sons are avid “hunters” as well.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:15:55 +0000

@Donna…you know, I’m conflicted about the whole viper thing. The folks around here generally operate under a “kill on sight” policy (apparently a side use of the common shovel is snake bopping), but that seems wrong. It’s not like they slither into our homes and swallow our babies…they only bother us if we bother them, and they’re just doing what snakes were programmed to do. I’ve never run across one, but I think I would just back up quietly and move away.

And then start screaming like a maniac.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:12:20 +0000

@George…unless you’ve been running through uncut fields or brush, you’re fine. I’ve lived here 17 years and have yet to run across anything more dangerous than you common grass snake. Which is just fine with me.

By: letizia

letizia — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:23:56 +0000

Indeed a few days ago we were picking asparagus and I felt my feet had gone under a twig. Then the twig moved away of its own accord. It felt quite rubbery on my toes. Most likely that was a water snake,they are more common than vipers. No other damage but I made very sure to look where I was going!