Snake Season is here.

Anyone who lives in Australia knows that we have many snakes here.  Many are scary but not dangerous but we have quite a few very nasty poisonous ones. In Spring seasons they come out as the weather warms and it is not uncommon to see some, especially if you live near bushland – their preferred place to live and hide.

This year, 2023, after a cold and dry winter, the slithery snakes are out and about and keeping the snake catchers busy.  Sadly there has been one death by snake already this month.

Do You Have a Snake Story?

This morning on the radio, listeners were asked to phone in and tell their snake story, and as I headed north from Brisbane I had quite a few chuckles to myself (I’m usually driving solo), as people told their stories. I loved the one of the man found a snake on his bed in the night, caught it in a rubbish bin, and then ran across the road naked (he always slept this way), to throw the serpent into the bush.

Then I remembered that I had not told my recent snake story.

My Snake Story

This happened in 2022, when I went on one of my driving adventures.  I headed north from Brisbane to Cania Gorge, north of Brisbane.  I stayed the first night at a motel at  Gayndah, needing a rest after driving 350 km with plans to go to the Gorge the following day.  with nearly 200 km to drive to the Gorge.  I needed a rest.

The following day, I drove on to the Gorge explored as much as I could and returned to the motel at Gayndah.  I had taken quite a few photos, so when I arrived at the motel, I spent a short time checking my emails and downloading the photos.

Gayndah’s Big Orange

Then I heard yelling and screaming not far from my motel room. I thought it must have been a domestic fight and soon peered out of the curtain to see a few people waving and yelling. I returned to my computer as I thought it looked no big deal.

Gayndah’s Tourist Drive

No Domestic Fight but a nasty visitor!

The yelling seemed to move from near my room to further along. So, I decided to go and see what was happening.  A small group of people, including the motel manager were near a unit near the end of the building, and I could see one man with a spade banging at something.  Then he fell screaming and much to my shock I saw he had tried to hit a snake, but had almost fallen on it as the spade broke. Someone quickly dragged him to safety and another man used the broken spade to continue to kill the snake.

At last the screaming stopped.  Carefully some of the people crept closer to the unwanted visitor, hoping to determine that indeed it was dead. I stood back, not wanting to see the mess that surrounded the corpse.  I did pause and wonder if this sneaky beast had family or friends near by.

I started to wander back to my unit, grateful that the snake was unable to scare us any more, when one of the “spectators” walked towards me, clearly wanting to chat with me.

The Very Scary Part of the Story

When I heard what he had to say, my heart rate increased and my jaw dropped!  The first sighting of this poisonous snake was in front of my motel room. It was curled up on the step – perhaps resting. What if I had opened my door and exited the room without looking on the step to see the beastly reptile? What if it had bitten me?

It took me a short while to settle after this, and I can assure readers I looked onto the step before I left my room – for I stayed overnight.

I was so grateful that I had not been hurt by this snake. When I think of it, I do get the shakes a bit.