Do I prefer pesky Pythons, or slithery Snakes?
A new sign has been erected near the beach.
These snakes would be Dugites, quite nasty and fatal if bitten and you don’t receive treatment. Almost makes me fond of the Amethystine Pythons that were regular visitors at my last house. I’ve not told the story of the Python-That-Wouldn’t-Go-Away until now.
Just before we moved from FNQ back to Perth, we were inundated with all sorts of wildlife. I didn’t blog for quite a few months as life was full to the brim with all sorts of happenings. I didn’t stop taking photographs, so I’ve a huge backlog of adventures that will have to await their turn in the telling.
For a few nights in the old house we heard strange scuffle noises in the roof. Several times we cautiously opened the manhole cover and peered around with a torch. At either gable end were ventilation holes covered with wire, so we thought access by Killer Pythons was impossible. In our street there was a python apparently going from house to house, devouring unwary cats and dogs. In the next cul-de-sac 2 yorkie terriers were taken, with one regurgitated back on the door mat. (Python’s eyes bigger than it’s belly?)
On with my tale. One evening I was searching for the cat, who would sit by the door lusting after geckoes attracted by the porch light. Go out – no cat. Walk in the dark towards my car and almost stumble on a length of PVC pipe that lay by the path. “Why did Jeff leave that there?” I grumbled to myself.
And then it moved up the wall.
My backwards vertical jump was worthy of Olympic Gold. And did I SQUEAL!
First thing I looked for was for a big cat-shaped bulge in the belly – none thankfully. The cat was under my car and going nuts. The python was heading straight for her, so out with the hose, trying to send it on it’s way. It didn’t blink an eye. Then out with buckets of water. It decided to head up the tree outside our bedroom window and there it stayed for hours. The cat was in a state. We were all in a state. The dog thought it was all great night time fun. No-one slept well that night.
Next morning no python in the tree. During the night it had moved under the deck, under the door.
This was a job for the Professionals. I rang the snake handlers at the Tropical Zoo who said I was “quite capable of catching it myself. All I had to do was to be confident, and above all, DO NOT HESITATE. Just go in fast and grab it behind the head. If it does happen to bite you, don’t pull, otherwise you’ll rip your hands to shreds on it’s needle like fangs. Wait for it to decide to let go. It’s the fear of getting bitten that’s worse than the actual bite.”
Yeah right. But I did try. I got to about a foot from where it lay coiled under my door and thought, “Nah, I can’t do this”. I called the boys back and stood back to watch how it should be done.
A few bricks removed,
and wham! The hand is quicker than the eye.
It was a loooong python. But a very skinny, hungry one. Skinny enough to slip through a small hole in the roof gable.
So after a few photos it was off to the bush out back to release it – a good 300 metres away, and we watched him slither off at a cracking pace towards Deep Creek.
I must stress here that catching a python over 2 metres on your own is inadvisable. These boys told me that if a python gets a couple of coils around your neck, you’ll pass out very very quickly and then it’s goodbye. (This from their own personal experience, they embarrassingly told me.) Make sure there is always someone there to back you up.
So peace and tranquility descended at home again. For all of one night.
Two nights later the cat went missing again. Straight out the door on the deck, along the path to the car, nothing. Back towards the door and THEN….
I walked straight passed it without even noticing it. It must’ve been staking out the cat (and dog) who were in and out this door every evening. I’m sorry to say I squealed louder this time.
It was late, but we rang a friend who is quite fond of snakes and knows how to handle them. Unfortunately he was up in the Tablelands until the following night. With the broom I tried to shoo it off the bench. Off and up behind the Air Con unit, quite happy with his new cubby hole.
My, what a long tongue you have….
Another nervous night passed and by morning it had disappeared. We were told they were creatures of habit and would return that night. And return it did, right to the same old stakeout position.
By now I was over squealing and more curious than fearful. Our friend snake wrangler friend was coming over tonight, so we tried not to disturb the python too much. As long as you walked slowly past him, he didn’t even seem to notice.
Our plan,( if you can call it that!) was to encourage him into our laundry basket with the broom handle. This was Plan A. When Plan A failed miserably, we thought grabbing him by the tail and pointing him to an open bed quilt cover would seem enticing – Plan B. After a time it was obvious that Plan C would have to be implemented. By this time the snake had poohed everywhere and it STANK. Let me tell you that this smell wins hands down over cat, dog, orangutan poo, etc etc. A combination of laundry basket, quilt cover and a belt finally won the day. The Python was taken by car up to deep bush behind Palm Cove a couple of kms away, never to be seen again.
Of course the cat now has deep psychological isues, one of them being doorways. She simply cannot pass through them without leaping 3 ft high and 5ft long. I don’t like lengths of PVC pipe either.
