Snakes Alive!

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:29 am

For those who don't know, I live on around 70 acres of remnant rainforest on the East Coast of Australia (about half way up - or indeed down). It the full self sufficency thing solar power, composting toilet, etc. Only service connected to the outside is my phone.

Now on Monday arfternoon I was stripping paint off some reused timber window frames when I noticed one of my two cats (Aeriel - 'Chunky' Tabby and possibly deceitfully thick as two short planks, & Rainbow - Tiny cute patchy white and tabby psychopathic killer and alpha cat) staring at the veranda roof. When I looked I was just in time to see a python (or possibly a green tree snake) disappear into my roof. It slithered around up there a bit provoking mild interest from the kitties, but when I remonstrated them about their shortcomings they appeared both unconcerned and unrepentant. I last heard evidence of it on Tuesday night and was hoping it hadn't taken up residence.

Well this morning, Aeriel was showing some interest in under the Piano. Both cats had been on the bed (by the piano) all night. So I moved the piano out from the wall. Lo and behold there is the snake that got in on Monday arvo.

The 'girls' were interested but didn't seem to want to press the issue, so in disgust I caught the bloody thing and relocated it back into the bush. I did this barefoot in my dressing gown.

I now look scornfully at the kitties and berate them with "Call yourself an apex predator", "Sure poor defenceless little birdies and mice, need some REAL work done and where are you?" (Rainbow was notably absent during the tricky bit of the capture) and similar epitaphs.

Hang on I'm dressed in a robe talking to my cats. Ah.... can we just pretend this never happened.

So have you any tales of your encounters with our reptile brothers?

If so here is a handy Herpetology thread (No that isn't what you get when you've been shut in a thread with Waverly). - Curdis !

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:44 am

Reading this thread does bring back memories related to my encounters with pythons back at my housea few years back when I was very young. Happened twice to me already. Found the first one on top of my roof. Tried to get it out together with my dad but that snake slithered of to a small crevice and we had to call the Fire Department to get it out.

The second one was found at my backyard. This guy was 5 or 6 feet long. This time, we did not call the Fire Department. Me, my younger brother and my dad proceeded to bash the python with shovels and spades. Hit it multiple times squarely on the head and it died. Threw the damn thing out after doing so.

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:01 am

Was killing it really necessary?

I made a very effective snake catcher with about a meter of half inch black poly pipe and some nylon rope. Most areas have a snake catcher who will come and do the work for you (I'm a little bit 'off the beaten track' so self service was necessary).

Most injuries (and fatalities) occur when people start acting agressively towards the creatures. Play nice! - Curdis !

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:45 am

Curdis wrote:Was killing it really necessary?

I made a very effective snake catcher with about a meter of half inch black poly pipe and some nylon rope. Most areas have a snake catcher who will come and do the work for you (I'm a little bit 'off the beaten track' so self service was necessary).

Most injuries (and fatalities) occur when people start acting agressively towards the creatures. Play nice! - Curdis !

That python ate two pigeons we kept as pets. By the time we arrived at the backyard, we saw this python sleeping right inside the cage with a large belly.

And I forgot to mention how long it took the Fire Department to arrive at my house during the first sighting of the python. Took them 2 hours to arrive. The next time this happens, we decided to do it ourselves. I forgot to mention that we also used a hoe to smash it's head.

P.S. I never really liked snakes anyway and I would love to avoid them most of the time but this guy went too far already and there wasn't any choice, except to kill it. I doubt I had the necessary equipment to assemble the snake catcher you mentioned. Besides, back then, I heard a lot of reports of python swallowing a whole pig and even more than one deer before so of course, our level of tolerance for them is very very low.

Fiberfar · Post by **Fiberfar** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:54 am

We got one snake up here that is poisonous for humans. - If you're extremely slim or very young or just happen to have an allergic reaction against it. For other people, pretty much harmless.

Yet people are almost scared to death when they see one

Philos · Post by **Philos** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:24 am

@Curdis,

Wow, would love to have 70 acres of rainforest for my backyard.

My neighbor is absolutely phobic about snakes. Although not a snake fan myself either, I do appreciate their place in the food chain and definitely like that they help keep the small rodents population in check (as does my inside/outside cat Shadow). I have a house on acre in semi rural Tennessee. So we do see snakes now and then. I try to keep my neighbor frfom taking his shovel or hoe (whichever is closer) to the Blacksnakes (non-poisonous) and little Garter snakes (small definitely non threatening) that pass through on occasion.

I do have one funny snake story to tell on myself. Right after buying our house, I was removing some unused building material from next to a flower bed and picked up a fairly wide piece of metal pipe about 3 feet long and clogged with dirt on one end. Pipe looked to be in good shape other than the dirt. So I pointed the clogged end down and started banging it against the wood frame of the flower bed to knock the dirt out. Well this poor scared Garter snake that had been using the pipe for a nest comes springing out the open end (which happens to be pointed at me) and lands on my forearm.

Well, I just about wet my pants, and needless to say the pipe and snake were quickly slung away from me. Since it was all brown my mind first thought 'Copperhead' (nasty tempered poisonous North American pit viper) but quickly realized that as aggressive as they are, it would not have merely jumped onto my arm, it would probably bitten me. Regaining my composure I took a long tomato stake and lifted the snake up, carried it over to the wooded tree line and gently tossed it in. I bet I jumped a foot. :laugh:

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:56 pm

I had a baby sitter when I was little who had an evil teenage son. The kid wasn't too bright, so, I told him the black watersnake that he was playing with was a Water Moccassin. Which, are deadly poisonous, and I informed of this too. He said "Really?! I should just throw him over there then so he doesn't bite me." At which point he laughed, shook enough to scare the snake badly enough it stopped playing nice and hoping to get away, then promptly bit him on the hand. Now, the dumb teen propmtly recalled what I had said, freaked out and ran home screaming "Mommy mommy! I'm gonna die!" over and over and over. :laugh: I checked to make sure the snake was ok before going after him, snickering the whole way back.

I got lectured on lying.

I tried explaining there is a difference between a "good lie" and a "bad lie" and that this was a "good lie". They most heartily disagreed.

Fiberfar · Post by **Fiberfar** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 6:04 pm

Magrus wrote:I had a baby sitter when I was little who had an evil teenage son. The kid wasn't too bright, so, I told him the black watersnake that he was playing with was a Water Moccassin. Which, are deadly poisonous, and I informed of this too. He said "Really?! I should just throw him over there then so he doesn't bite me." At which point he laughed, shook enough to scare the snake badly enough it stopped playing nice and hoping to get away, then promptly bit him on the hand. Now, the dumb teen propmtly recalled what I had said, freaked out and ran home screaming "Mommy mommy! I'm gonna die!" over and over and over. :laugh: I checked to make sure the snake was ok before going after him, snickering the whole way back.

I got lectured on lying. I tried explaining there is a difference between a "good lie" and a "bad lie" and that this was a "good lie". They most heartily disagreed.

I'd tell the parents I was certain it was a black watersnake, not that I was lying

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:11 pm

Meh, most of the snakes hear in Connecticut are not dangerous, mostly since we have Garter Snakes around here.

We've had instances of those things creeping into rotting parts of the old woodwork in the house when my folks and I were rebuilding the house. Unfortunately, one poor snakey must've ended up accidentally getting hit with a hammer and died in one wood portion we had to take out.

Of course, we did have one instance when my dad was mowing years ago. Supposedly, he had picked up a Copperhead - fully alive and well - in his cart, which didn't quite attack him, fortunately. My dad ended up doing something similar to what Curdis did with that python. I guess great minds think alike!

Then again, my dad isn't the smartest man in the world. :laugh:

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:09 am

I hate snakes and this is an understatement. They scare the living hell out of me. I don't care that they are beneficial.
Several years ago after a very tiresome day I was finally asleep and having bad dreams. My last nightmare that awoken me in cold sweat in the morning (I was off that day) was a vision of a snake under one of the front windows, among rose bushes I planted a day before. After shower I decided to water my newly planted roses and walked out into our front yard. When I came close to the bushes I heard hissing. Under the front window, among the roses was... a SNAKE! It was just a 2-3 feet long garter snake but I was paralyzed with horror because my nightmare came true literally within 20 minutes.
Screaming I dropped the waterhose and ran inside the house and refused to come out until my husband came home after work and assured me that the snake was long gone.
That was a truly mystical encounter I still remember as vivid as if it was yesterday. :speech:

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:12 pm

I have had a (nearly) life long pathological fear of snakes. Apart from the apparent dyed in tendency of humans to dislike snakes, when I was four I had a close encounter with a black snake (poisonous) that struck at me. From that time I have found it difficult to hold books that have pictures of snakes in them, watch TV shows that have snakes in them (etc.).

Living in rural Australia snake encounters are inevitable, and I have always been a keen bushwalker, my first ex was a Park Ranger and when she was still getting her qualifications I assisted her in frog research. She knew of my fear and neglected to inform me that along with the frogs we were surveying we were also sharing our time with a wide selection of snakes. Her deception was soon found out when I nearly stepped on a huge brown snake (very poisonous), that she thought my running away squealling was a gross over reaction probably goes some way to explain her ex-hood.

Moving into an isolated bush setting (Philos, the 70 acres are my front and side yards as well. I'm basically in the middle

) meant reconcilling my fear with my love of the Australian Bush. Since building my house I have encountered three brown snakes, a file snake, and two huge pythons, beside the snake of the first post. The pythons were both in excess of 2 meters and would have measured at least 500mm in circumference (easily capable of eating a cat). Both were quite placcid and although they seemed to be set on there own particular fixed agenda were not a danger to me. Keeping them out of the house and stopping them from eatting the pets was the main challenge here.

Following my most recent encounter I have to declare that I have conquered this fear reasonably comprehensively.

@All, fight the fear and don't kill or harm these (or other) creatures.

@Galuf, Hmm, thanks, I guess. - Curdis !

Philos · Post by **Philos** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:13 pm

@Curdis

From that time I have found it difficult to hold books that have pictures of snakes in them, watch TV shows that have snakes in them.

I can relate to that, took a having a good friend with a very mild mannered corn snake that liked being held to help me get over "most" of my fear. Snakes still give me a mild case of the "willys", just not as bad as it used to be. That little pipe incident didn't help. :laugh: I can't imagine how you reacted to the Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark movie and that one scene. *shudder*

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:50 pm

I hope you haven't appointed yourself as my therapist

I think that might be a very long job indeed. For some reason snakes in a dramatic context aren't nearly as scary as ones in the "real' setting. Any amount of Indiana Jones snakes are OK but put one in a wildlife documentary and I used to climb the walls

- Curdis !

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:01 pm

I haven't played at being one of those since I broke up with Jen. Snakes definately aren't nice to be around when they are hungry and in their element. Just like any other natural predator. They are very interesting animals though. They are built specifically to hunt and live off of the results of their hunting as efficiently as possible.

Daianara · Post by **Daianara** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:01 am

Thank God snakes are yet to consider relocating to the city. :laugh: All we have here are creepy black bugs that can fly. I guess in Australia snakes are a common thing and you get to know/handle them. Unfortunatelly, there aren't any "pet the nice python" (no pun intended) classes for people to get over their phobia.
Me, I would run for my life the second I hear something slithering.:laugh:

LordAce · Post by **LordAce** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:09 am

Personally, snakes scare the hell out of me. I remember when I was 8, or around there, we went to the river. After we were done fishing my dad said we could go swimming, so my sister and I jump in. After a little bit, my sister starts freaking out, so I turn around and there is a baby rattlesnake in the water right next to her. Needless to say, we were done for the day.

Kipi · Post by **Kipi** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:14 am

Well, I'm quite snake-phobiac myself...
When I was young (around 5-6 years old), I opened one box in our home, and what did I found? Full grown rattlersnake, which is probably the most poisonous snake you can find in Finland...

Even today, I can't walk past the shelves in store where are toy-snakes... I have to get around, usually about 3-5 shelf-alleys...

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:09 pm

Wow! I had no idea that snakes were such a widespread panic maker. Most intersting as despite the close encounters with a few mentioned above most people wont ever see one in its element and even fewer people will have an actual bite incident.

As most Australians live in urban areas, most will also not encounter snakes. We do however have a huge number of very dangerous ones (compared to other countries) and parents probably instill a fear from a very early age. The worst country to be in for bites/deaths is Sri Lanka. I wonder what snake phobia is like there? - Curdis !

Philos · Post by **Philos** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:38 pm

@Curdis,

Your

I hope you haven't appointed yourself as my therapist

Heavens no,

that thought just crossed my mind when you wrote that watching TV shows with snakes was difficult. I take it you didn't watch the late Steve Irwin much.

My speculation on the reasons snakes seem a common phobia is the way they move. So very different from most other animals, plus extremely quiet. Creatures that can move quickly and pretty well undetected seem to elicit more fear. I am sure there are others but those came to mind.