Funny Donna, I have never seen a brown one in Belize! hahaha They are usually white. The brown ducks here are usually imported.
The thing to realize about the snakes is as long as you keep the grass short and bush under brushed, then you will rarely have to deal with snakes. We live in dense bush and the only times we really had issues was when we had the bunny rabbits close to our building.
You have to remember it is not a zoo, it is the wild. So, that means that you do not walk up and take a picture of a jaguar. There are precautions needed. My children were small when we moved to Belize. We required them to stay inside and not venture out of the house till we did a visual inspection of the area. But, my son went to a private school in Arizona were they did the same thing as it was away from the city. You do not keep clutter around the house, because snakes will hide in it. Really it all boils down to cleanliness. Tommy Golfs have 100 babies at a time and are the number one poisonous snake to deal with there. I have a picture of one but need to crop my helpers face out of it, but will post it soon. It is the mother of all snakes!! hahaha It is now on display at the Ian Anderson's Caves Branch.
We have a open air house and have camped out in the bush for the entire project. It has been the best experience of my and my kids lives. We have learned so much from it and my boy often ventures out on his own within site of the house.