Xel'lotath
Xel'lotath is a respected, cherished member of my household. A proud 19 year old 6 ft Darwin Coastal Carpet Python (Morelia spilota variegata) which are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. They typically live 20-25 years in captivity and she has been in my care for the majority of her life. Her name comes from one of the ancient deities in my favorite video game of all time Eternal Darkness. All of these pictures I took with my Cannon EOS M50 Mirrorless Camera with a 15-45mm lens this past summer. She is absolutely majestic so I want to share her with all of you :)
My free photography work will be posted to Unsplash.
Love to all.
As a gardener, I would appreciate the company of your friend more than the company of most animals. I'm not much of a rodent person. 'Phobia' might not be the right term, but it's not too far off.
She has a nice smile!
Thanks! She is super friendly with people, especially new people. She will want to come over and smell you and try to get into your shirt. Not even kidding. And who says snakes don't have personalities lol ;)
Haha sounds like a "strong dislike" for rodents to me. I know the feeling. I consistently have rabbits in the yard that dig burrows in the grass to have their litters. They ate all my blueberry bush, even the stems! I thought having a raised bed would deter them but it totally didn't. I am all for gardening tips if you have them!
Sounds like fun! I'm an animal lover. But as a plant lover also, I have trouble with squirrels, rats, and other rodent pests that destroy gardens. I've luckily never had to deal with rabbits. Deer, sure, plenty of experience TRYING to deal with deer. But rabbits sound like an interesting challenge.
Do you notice a large personality difference between reptiles? I've only ever owned a couple little anoles, and a swift.
I think my yard is like a mini nature sanctuary because I do not treat my lawn or plants with weed killer or other chemicals so I tend to get a lot of animals, insects and spiders which is fine. I would rather they have a safe place to congregate than get eaten by predators. It just makes gardening more challenging. I have resorted to using pots for some of my crops so we will see how that works out.
As far as personalities between reptiles yeah for sure. On the surface they seem relatively similar but they all have their own quarks about them. I also had some anoles when I was younger which was really cool, a green one and a brown one. They would change colors depending on their mood. I also had an Iguana that was a huge a-hole for some reason. He was not much of a pleasure to take care of.
Some species seem to not enjoy humans for some reason. Crows come to mind, I think most of them hate humans, waking is up, screaming at us, divebombing our heads if we're near their nest. I can't really blame them, we act kind of evil sometimes, perhaps they've noticed. I've never known any iguanas, but perhaps it wasn't just yours that wasn't fun to be around.
I like spiders in my garden, less so in my house. But I respect them as insect population controllers, for sure. Most insects/bugs are bad for gardens as you know. A few exceptions in my region would be honeybees, dragonflies, earthworms, ladybirds, etc.
It's kind of weird being vegan, but also being in competition with other animals for food and territory. Vegans supposedly never harm animal life, but gardeners can't avoid doing so as part of the process. Maybe the definition of veganism needs updating or something.
Anyway, sorry for the thought-salad! :p
I don't blame them. Humans do not even like humans a lot of the time. For a lot of them they just know to fear us.
As far as humans never harming other life, I think what is important is the intention behind our actions. Even the act of washing our hands kills a lot of microbial life and tilling soil for planting disturbs the microbes biosphere and causes harm to them. Some harm like that is unavoidable to a certain degree. We just have to do our best to respect all life on this planet.
If a bear was trying to kill me for some reason, I would have to defend myself, but that is much different than killing for sport, which is vile and disgusting.
By being vegan you are telling the universe that you are doing what is within your power to respect all life here. That is a noble thing to do. It doesn't mean that you have to be perfect as that is not possible. But again its your intention that matters.
I agree, and well said.
A similar topic is what to do about mosquitoes? They're vampiric and carry parasites and viruses, not to mention their injection causes itches and rash. They buzz in your ear when you're trying to fall asleep, promising to feast on your blood once you succeed. I generally swat them if they're inside, or if they're biting me when I'm outside. I don't believe there's a great deal of sentience in insects. I don't wish them any undue harm, but I don't sacrifice my health for theirs. There's a bit of natural competition still at play here, even in modern times. Sometimes, it's either us or them. Another example is bedbugs. Do you exterminate them, or let them continue to visit you every night, draining your blood, giving you diseases, and leaving bloody poop stains on your belongings where they nest? I can't live that way. No bedbugs allowed, 'vegan' household or not.
Well, you bring up a very good point which is that it is very important for everyone to establish boundaries or draw a line in the sand.
It is one thing for you to not harm other beings (The non aggression principle) but that does nothing to stop other beings from harming you.
This is something not talked about enough in Anarchy circles which is not only is the NAP important, but also is the Self Defense Principle (SDP). This is the flip side of the coin, that if other beings are violating your right to have your body left alone and committing violence by stealing your blood without your consent, then the mosquito is being the aggressor and you have every right to defend yourself (even lethal force).
So yeah if they are attacking me, you bet you I am going to swat them and as far as bugs being in your house, I like to refer back to the castle doctrine. You have the right to feel safe and secure in your own house. So if those critters are being a nuisance, then you should take what ever means you deem necessary to take care of them.
At the same time I am not running around my yard with one of those shock rackets indiscriminately killing bugs for no reason or just because I don't like them... but if they are a threat to my well being, then I will take care of them accordingly.
In a future post I will be covering these topics the NAP and the SDP, so you just got a sneak preview :)
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Wow, not a fan of snakes but pretty cool photo
Thanks! Yeah ,I can totally understand. Not everyone likes snakes. A lot more of my work will be coming, it will just be more of a drip release than a flood. Part of the reason is because Unsplash only lets you upload 10 photos per week. But I have a lot of content to share so I am excited to get it out there.
Cool I will definitely follow your work
It's Not Whether You Get Knocked Down, It's Whether You Get Up