SNAKES

[mjsw13]

I love playing golf, and I also love reptiles. Now the weather's a bit warmer, there is an added hazard (should that be adder hazard...arf) while searching for errant drives in the sand hills.

While I've got to be a bit more careful where I'm putting my feet, it is a delight to see one or two of these scaly critters while on the links, and I thoroughly look forward to playing on sunny days, semi / partly due to this reason.

Am I alone in this? Do you get a lot of unusual creatures on your golf courses? I was reading in Golf Monthly about what is your golf club doing to promote 'green golf', and while my number one priority is the course being in tip top condition, being able to see snakes, slow worms, lizards etc. while playing is a delight.

 

[mikeyh]

Seeing wildlife on the golf course is one of the added bonuses of playing this great game! My new course is on the edge of an estuary and the wildlife is fantastic. The views are great and apparently there has been sightings of an osprey passing through. I am waiting to spot it, its big enough!!!!

 

[Smiffy]

Do you get a lot of unusual creatures on your golf courses?

Have you seen the typical female Bexhill resident??????

 

[Twire]

I love to see the wildlife, me and HID were sitting down waiting for the par 3 8th to clear a couple of weeks back, and were watching a stoat running around about 10 yards in front of us. She's not to keen on the snakes though. Last summer we had to have a notice on the first tee "Beware of the snakes" that freeked her out a bit.

 

[Mike_j_golf]

Hi,
Our course is great at the moment with Squirrls all over the place all the lakes are full of ducklings and a herd of dear have started to come on to the course from a near by wood in the evening times. No snakes in Ireland.
Mike

 

[HomerJSimpson]

According to HTL there is a big fat adder on our 17th

 

[Imurg]

We get Hares, Muntjac, Stoats and Foxes as well as the boring old rabbit.. We also get Red Kites, Buzzards and Green Woodpeckers. One of our ponds had newts in but I havn't seen any for a year or 2.

 

[HTL]

Yes there is a big Adder at Ascot, it proper scared me!
Ive seen a load of grass snakes at my club, they scare the hell out of me! But its a perfect environment for them.

 

[funkyfred]

We have loads of pheasants, which look magnificent with their bright colours, along with loads of different varieties of ducks and geese you would expect with the amount on ponds, lakes and streams we have on our course. My playing partner on Sunday was saying that he saw a grass snake on Friday.

I haven't taken the Good lady round yet, but i keep telling her what a fantastic sight the whole thing is, she is chopping at the bit to come, but I think the 7.30am tee off this saturday in the monthly medal is a bit to early. Perhaps she could caddie for me on Monday in a mixed game.

 

[USER1999]

Ditto Imurg, but we don't get newts. Got all the rest though.

Laughed last year when a fox walked onto the ladies tee box, had a dump, then wandered back into the woods. Sign of a class golf club.

We get adders too. It all adds to the excitement. Although not as much as the rattlers in Florida, or the Gators for that matter. Saw an otter last year too.

 

[mono217]

Lots of birds and rabbits and a few foxes.

 

[MVP]

i see some shedded skin at lydd . not my cup of tea! i prefer to see herons and kingfishers!!

 

[medwayjon]

Saw adders at Kings Hill, where I was playing you would get plenty of foxes (advice, never tread in fox crap, it smells worse than any other excrement imaginable) along with plenty of birds.

 

[Gustavo]

Last Thursday evening as I was walking down the 11th fairway, I saw a big Crow pestering a female Mallard. It was only when I got closer that I could see the Mallard trying to prevent the Crow from attacking the tiny ducklings hiding behind it. The Crow beat a hastey retreat when I chased it with my PW, I then escorted the Mother and her young to the nearest pond to relevant safety. I could see the remains of one duckling that had already come a cropper, or become a dinner.

The Crow then landed right on the pond's edge staring at the easy pickings on offer.

I know nature is sometimes cruel, but I didn't want to witness a baby duck being killed and eaten in front of it's mother and siblings.

Now if it was me trying to kill the mother for my dinner, that would be OK !!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We get kites, parrots, muntjac, pheasant, green and spotted woodpecker, rabbits, and of course our protected crested newts

 

[Gustavo]

I didn't realise that Red Kites were so common in Berkshire and Bucks. There's plenty of them in South West Wales, in some places they are more common than Buzzards down here.

Last summer I saw a Golden Eagle down here. 100% a Golden Eagle. I rang my Father to tell him about it, the next evening it was on the BBC Wales news after being spotted by many local residents near the Bridgend area.

I don't know if any of you haver seen one up close, but they are massive !! I walked beneath a tree with a load of Magpie's and Crow's going mental, I thought they were arguing with each other so to speak, only when I was right below the tree that I saw they were pestering this massive Eagle. It looked approximately 80-90cm tall, huge yellow beak and yellow talons, I was about 10 metres away from me. I wasn't sure if it was a freakishly big Buzzard, then it flew away and I could see it was absolutely huge, too big to be a buzzard.

That reminds me, Ive seen a Buzzard eating a squirrel on a fairway at Mountain Lakes course in Caerphilly. Buzzards are as common as sparrows around here !!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have geese and ducks too and they are busy protecting their young from all sorts of predators.

 

[thecraw]

Nearly stood on an adder in the sand dunes at Machrie last year I very nearly shat myself when I saw this move between my legs!

Snakes give me the heebiejeebies.

I have got Peacocks, Pheasents, Grouse, Sparrow Hawks, Rabbits, Foxes, Field Mice, Buzzards, Deer, and all sorts at my course!

 

[Herbie]

I like snakes too,

How nice is that?

 

[viscount17]

swans, geese (3 types), ducks, coots, moorhens, reed warblers, green woodpeckers, herons, cormorants, peacock, pheasant, partridge, owls (heard not seen), muntjac, badgers, foxes, rabbits, hares, and reputedly mink and otter.