Hi All,
It's not quite as serious at it sounds.
Where to start, Ok, I have always had a phobia of snakes, Spiders don't worry me, i catch them and move them no worries, but that part of the brain that has evolved in modern man to run the other way when they see a snake is quite highly developed in me.
So imagine my surprise the other day to hear a bit of a rucus in the laundry, put my book down and look over about 4 meters away to seem my Burmese cat jumping up and down on a 1.5 metre dugite in the middle of the laundry. My two cats are inside only cats, and have no perception of danger, the other day while moving some sheets of tin around, I startled a 600mm king skink which proceeded to run straight into their outdoor enclosure, which they immediately tried to play with as well. The skink had enough sense to high tail it out of there quick smart.
So anyhow, after being frozen in fear for a couple of seconds, I ran to the nearest door with the idea that I could maybe shoo the snake out that way (I should mention we live on 3 acres surrounded by Jarrah/Marri forrest and a state park on one boundary, and we are currently living in the shed while we build, which while very nice for a shed and lined and insulated, snakes don't apparently have any trouble finding a way in), then I ran to find the shovel (yes I know that is very frowned upon here, but you will have to make some allowance for my irrational fear... hear me out).
So by the time I got back with the shovel, the snake had high tailed it under the laundry trough and back into the wall space between the outside tin sheets and internal lining through the gap where the waste pipe comes into it. So I got on the phone to my wife who was on the way home with the kids to go to the neighbours and call the Ranger, all the while standing on a ladder outside the laundry looking in the window to see if the snake had come back out.
The ranger called the local relocation guy, who was great and raced out to help. So we spent the next few hours pulling apart the laundry, as I stood on top of the sink and undid screws so we could pull sheets off and try and find him. We never did and we all lived on egg shells for a few days. It's amazing how much braver I became when I had a trained expert standing next to me. I paid the relocation guy a nice little donation for coming out and after he was gone slowly put the sheets back on the wall, and then sealed up as many holes (on the inside) as I could with foamafill and silicone.
I actually happened across this forum the next day looking for info on the electronic snake repellents (which was none too flattering), and the funny thing is I kept coming back, About a month on now i'm much less fearfull and find myself looking everywhere I walk to try and find a reptile or snake, as I wan't to take some photos. Looking at the threads on here has gone a long way to curing my irrational fear.
After a day I started to worry the snake wouldn't be able to get out, so I ended up propping open an outside sheet of tin where he had gone back into the wall and left a bowl of water outside to try and lure him out. There weren't any snake tracks in the sand near the bowl, but a month on I assume he went out the way he came in eventually.
My wife had a python as a child and has been onto me for a while to get a snake for our kids, I have always been dead set against it, but now I actually find myself interested in the idea. I haven't told her that yet, but maybe when I finish the house a terarium would look pretty cool in the living area. The ones I like the look of are in this thread.
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-discussion-42/newest-member-family-cant-figure-151934/
Being a newb I don't even know what type that is, and is most likely banned in WA, lol.
So after all that, I think i'm getting better (not quite there yet, but at least when I look at snake pics my skin doesn't crawl anymore, the elapid pics still do a bit
, and promise not to shovel any snakes :?. The relocator has invited the family over to meet his pythons, so we are going to take him up on it soon.
Hope I haven't bored you too much, i'll be hanging around occassionally asking newb questions.
Cheers,
Scott
I'll leave you with a pic of the baby Bungarra my 4 year old son caught under the freezer the other day, we set him loose outside in a pile of rocks.
It's not quite as serious at it sounds.
Where to start, Ok, I have always had a phobia of snakes, Spiders don't worry me, i catch them and move them no worries, but that part of the brain that has evolved in modern man to run the other way when they see a snake is quite highly developed in me.
So imagine my surprise the other day to hear a bit of a rucus in the laundry, put my book down and look over about 4 meters away to seem my Burmese cat jumping up and down on a 1.5 metre dugite in the middle of the laundry. My two cats are inside only cats, and have no perception of danger, the other day while moving some sheets of tin around, I startled a 600mm king skink which proceeded to run straight into their outdoor enclosure, which they immediately tried to play with as well. The skink had enough sense to high tail it out of there quick smart.
So anyhow, after being frozen in fear for a couple of seconds, I ran to the nearest door with the idea that I could maybe shoo the snake out that way (I should mention we live on 3 acres surrounded by Jarrah/Marri forrest and a state park on one boundary, and we are currently living in the shed while we build, which while very nice for a shed and lined and insulated, snakes don't apparently have any trouble finding a way in), then I ran to find the shovel (yes I know that is very frowned upon here, but you will have to make some allowance for my irrational fear... hear me out).
So by the time I got back with the shovel, the snake had high tailed it under the laundry trough and back into the wall space between the outside tin sheets and internal lining through the gap where the waste pipe comes into it. So I got on the phone to my wife who was on the way home with the kids to go to the neighbours and call the Ranger, all the while standing on a ladder outside the laundry looking in the window to see if the snake had come back out.
The ranger called the local relocation guy, who was great and raced out to help. So we spent the next few hours pulling apart the laundry, as I stood on top of the sink and undid screws so we could pull sheets off and try and find him. We never did and we all lived on egg shells for a few days. It's amazing how much braver I became when I had a trained expert standing next to me. I paid the relocation guy a nice little donation for coming out and after he was gone slowly put the sheets back on the wall, and then sealed up as many holes (on the inside) as I could with foamafill and silicone.
I actually happened across this forum the next day looking for info on the electronic snake repellents (which was none too flattering), and the funny thing is I kept coming back, About a month on now i'm much less fearfull and find myself looking everywhere I walk to try and find a reptile or snake, as I wan't to take some photos. Looking at the threads on here has gone a long way to curing my irrational fear.
After a day I started to worry the snake wouldn't be able to get out, so I ended up propping open an outside sheet of tin where he had gone back into the wall and left a bowl of water outside to try and lure him out. There weren't any snake tracks in the sand near the bowl, but a month on I assume he went out the way he came in eventually.
My wife had a python as a child and has been onto me for a while to get a snake for our kids, I have always been dead set against it, but now I actually find myself interested in the idea. I haven't told her that yet, but maybe when I finish the house a terarium would look pretty cool in the living area. The ones I like the look of are in this thread.
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-discussion-42/newest-member-family-cant-figure-151934/
Being a newb I don't even know what type that is, and is most likely banned in WA, lol.
So after all that, I think i'm getting better (not quite there yet, but at least when I look at snake pics my skin doesn't crawl anymore, the elapid pics still do a bit
, and promise not to shovel any snakes :?. The relocator has invited the family over to meet his pythons, so we are going to take him up on it soon.Hope I haven't bored you too much, i'll be hanging around occassionally asking newb questions.
Cheers,
Scott
I'll leave you with a pic of the baby Bungarra my 4 year old son caught under the freezer the other day, we set him loose outside in a pile of rocks.
