summer here!

[Ken Gargett]

chatting to col, my postie, this morning. we always catch up on the latest footy etc. he is a good mate. suddenly he stops and mentions we have company. seven foot of carpet snake twirling around a chain at the edge of the house a few feet away, on its way up into the roof. we gently re-directed him the other way but it did sneak under the house before we could stop it. was long, but quite thin, and very active especially for the middle of the day. they are beautiful snakes but always happy when i see them from a small distance rather than surprise us both.

i suspect i'll be sans a possum very shortly, or at least a few bandicoots. unless it runs into the big one and i might be sans it.

[amosnaim]

I am always amazed by the encounters with wildlife you have and how relaxed you relate to them...

just from the last year stories I would have probably get 2-3 heart attacks if I were you...

cheers

[Cohiba Stevie]

So whats the story? Snakes eat the possums or possums eat the snakes?

[Ken Gargett]

seven foot of python would probably be a smidge much for the average possum to swallow.

as for being relaxed, if it was seven foot of brown or taipan, you'd have heard the screaming around the globe.

[amosnaim]

seven foot of python would probably be a smidge much for the average possum to swallow.

as for being relaxed, if it was seven foot of brown or taipan, you'd have heard the screaming around the globe.

i remember u once wrote about seeing a brown. ever 'met' with a Taipan?

[Rushman]

I thought FOH kept kicking you off? Amazed by the tales of wildlife in your part of the world.

[Cohiba Stevie]

seven foot of python would probably be a smidge much for the average possum to swallow.

as for being relaxed, if it was seven foot of brown or taipan, you'd have heard the screaming around the globe.

Understood, although I have seen videos of mongoose taking on 7ft cobras.

What about spiders? Are any big and poisonous ones local to you? Lol

[CaptainQuintero]

Do you get black mamba there? I remember reading a story by a wrtier here who in his youth stayed in Africa. They were so fast that you couldn't physically outrun them, they can move as fast as galloping horses and they would go out of their way to hunt humans :S

He was in his house and one of his native workers was collecting up leaves with a rake when he saw a six foot black mamba moving towards the worker, he shouted to him and the worker started to run but the mamba shot into top gear and it was obvious there was no way the worker could reach safety before he was caught. he turned round and held the rake up and waited for the snake to catch up, the mamba shot at him as soon as it came in range and the worker (Who had been standing his ground with rake raised) brought the rake down and pinned the snake to the floor mid-attack; with it's head about a foot away from him :S

I'll stick with my badgers and squirrels here!

[david9985]

I've read that one too Captain Q. 'Going Solo' by Roald Dahl I believe, an excellent read! Lucky with animals in the UK.

[CaptainQuintero]

Yeah that's the one, scared the hell out of me!!

[Ken Gargett]

i remember u once wrote about seeing a brown. ever 'met' with a Taipan?

we do have taipans here. watched a big one duck across the creek just under my feet last summer. i have always found them much more timid, touch wood, than browns. apparently more deadly than black mambas and as quick. but most snakes don't really want much to do with you if you give them warning you are coming. bloke up the road had a clydesdale killed not so long ago - presumably a brown or taipan.

[sv_ontour]

we do have taipans here. watched a big one duck across the creek just under my feet last summer. i have always found them much more timid, touch wood, than browns. apparently more deadly than black mambas and as quick. but most snakes don't really want much to do with you if you give them warning you are coming. bloke up the road had a clydesdale killed not so long ago - presumably a brown or taipan.

I haven't found browns to be that quick, the ones I've experienced tended to be quite clumsy when striking and they generally will only strike at movement. I've heard taipans can be a bit more aggressive similar to the agro little gwadars we get in WA. For my money the quickest and scariest snake I've ever handled is the Pilbara death adders, I wouldn't call them aggressive but extremely fast and accurate with their strike. Like Ken said most snakes(99%) really don't want to have anything to do with us and most snakebites are from when people try to catch them.

I've heard the stories about people being chased by snakes but never experienced it, so tend to think a lot of the time some extra details get added to the story for dramatic effect.