All you people wishing a shotgun on to snakes, is terrible, they have every right to life was we have. I will admit I have killed 3 snakes in my life, and I really did mourn them, so to stop me doing that, I did a course in how to pick them up and move them away from the immediate area. They are a beautiful unique animal, and now it is a buzz for me to come across one. They have a role to play in the environment, and without them, we would be overun in rodents.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Friday 19th of May 2023 05:57:49 AM
When I think of snakes a couple of experiences that I had at a friends property at Condamine come to mind.
There was always a pair of gum boots at the back door & we were instructed to always put them on if we wanted to visit the outdoor thunderbox at might. The story was that Death Adders used to lie in wait along the path to the outhouse (I suppose feeding on mall prey) presenting a danger to unsuspecting night visitors. Don't know if it was true but I always put them on .. after ensuring that nothing had got inside the boots.
The other story resulted from us noticing a few birds in distant trees acting strangely as we rode out to bring in a few cattle. 'Just follow along steadily', I was instructed. As we got nearer I was told to look closely at the ground just below the birds. And there it was. A Death Adder had lifted several inches of its stubby body off the ground and was waving back & forth to catch the attention of the birds. I suppose that the strategy was to lure them down to provide a meal for the snake. After watching for a few minutes we just rode off leaving them to their business.
Although the place was 'full' of Death Adders, the owner of the place never interfered with them. He was deadly with his always present stock whip & could easily have despatched them with the flick of a wrist.
