I actually wasn't having a go at anyone, I was just having a laugh as these threads appear often enough and they are always filled with exagerration, yes the snake was mot likely a large one, but a 5 metre BHP is near 16 and 1/2 feet long in the old scale and it is rare to even see scrubbies this big. Highly doubt it was anywhere near that. And, like the elusive coastal that is over 4meters that every sees, but no one can find.....!! UWS recently measured an olive python that has been fed quite heavily since 2007 and it is currently 3.4m and weighs 18kilos. Now they are one of Australias biggest snakes and even that is no where near your claimed size. Not aving a go at all, just this is reality and not driving along a road at night guessing about a snake that stretched 20 feet across a road.
How big can a Black Headed Python get?!
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Carnelian
Well-Known Member
Hey, you & me both. I still find it unbelievable & 2-3 yrs later they are still amazed at what they saw. But they all saw the same thing. Being a western road I'm not sure if it would be slightly narrower than city/coast roads though so we were working on approx. 4-5m. When we mentioned it to a reptile breeder in the area, he said it isn't that unheard of.
We gets loads of BHPs out here & see them often & the biggest I have seen would have been about 8-9 ft which I have pics of here with Fang holding.
hugsta & Venomous1111...I wasn't referring to your posts, mainly the other 2 who either implied he was exaggerating or lying.
We are fully aware of the expected sizes of different pythons which made me so skeptical when they told me late that night when they got home. This snake wasn't "stretched" out on the road, it was just there, whether it was absorbing the heat from the bitumen or just cruising casually along I don't know. They saw it and stopped. Hubby was a bit worried about actually picking it up to move of the road so he just gently helped it along.
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the vast majority of size estimates on wild snakes are way off the mark. It is very difficult to estimate the size of a snake. I've seen/caught BHP's at just over 3m and they are huge thick bodied snakes. I don't doubt they may very occassionally reach 4m but that would be exceptional.
Add the difficultly of making an estimate with the way the road width was described and you can see why I and others are doubtful. If the road was a two-way(not a two lane) Queensland outback road where you move onto the shoulder to pass then that would be much more believable.
No one has suggested there was any lying involved, and any exaggeration probably wasn't intentional; it just happens especially when you see a big snake (perhaps the biggest you've ever seen), and you expect it from pretty much everyone!
Well done for encouraging it off the road.
JUNGLE-JAK
Well-Known Member
can we see the pic of it , that would shut everyone up but i just hope my black head will reach 3m let alone 5m.
not being rude.
not being rude.
Carnelian
Well-Known Member
The Capricorn Highway is a 2 lane road, 1 lane traveling east & the other west. I suspect it would be narrower than the city/coast roads though & at a guess would be 4 - 5m, I certainly wouldn't like to try & narrow that guess down any further. As I said before, its total length is only a estimate from what the 3 said about it laying across the road with it's head on one side & the tail on the other.
Either way it still makes it one bloody big BHP, enough to make hubby a little cautious about actually picking it up of the road to move it along, he has been handling snakes for about 40yrs so has had plenty of experience. He said he went to pick it up with the boys help put after just lifting it a little he had second thoughts & decided it was a stupid idea in case the snake got a little cranky.
Either way it still makes it one bloody big BHP, enough to make hubby a little cautious about actually picking it up of the road to move it along, he has been handling snakes for about 40yrs so has had plenty of experience. He said he went to pick it up with the boys help put after just lifting it a little he had second thoughts & decided it was a stupid idea in case the snake got a little cranky.
SteveNT
Very Well-Known Member
I have heard several times from very serious elderly traditional owners that they have caught (they are a tucker item) bhps longer than 2 men. I believe them. I have certainly met one near Pine Creek that was an easy 4 meters. And chunky.
cement
Very Well-Known Member
Photos please!
GeckoJosh
Almost Legendary
I was find it amusing that these super long snakes would be the most likely to be photographed compared to their smaller elk by anyone who came across them but yet noone ever has a pic of one
Carnelian
Well-Known Member
Would love to post a pic but, who the hell carries a camera around everywhere they go?
I think my boy has learnt his lesson though, he now takes pics of EVERYTHING he finds & so far there are alot of people impressed with what he has found out here.
I think my boy has learnt his lesson though, he now takes pics of EVERYTHING he finds & so far there are alot of people impressed with what he has found out here.
SteveNT
Very Well-Known Member
There weren't cameras that could survive the conditions I was in in those days. These days it's bliss, last year I bought a drop proof waterproof to 10 meters camera, for the places I dont take the Nikon. Like fishing and crabbing in a 12 foot tinny in a Top End wet season
But I haven't seen a bhp that big for 30 years. If (when
) I do there will be pics!
GeckoJosh
Almost Legendary
Well most people do these days as just about everyone carries a mobile phone with a camera
Heelssss
Well-Known Member
Man I wish I see sum thing that big on the highway most I've seen was a 2.5 meter Python in N.T and thought that was exciting
Carnelian
Well-Known Member
Bahahaha, why would we have a mobile phone when we don't get coverage unless we go for a drive about half an hour out of town, just another bill for something we couldn't use very often.
GeckoJosh
Almost Legendary
Well how am I suppose to know you are a country bumpkin lol, my bad you do have a good point
Carnelian
Well-Known Member
LOL, not sure if living out here is good or bad sometimes. At least we get loads of great animals out here. A few yrs ago when next G came in alot of people in town went & brought a phone cause telstra said we would coverage, but as usual, it's a no go. If you go for a drive there are certain areas that can pick up one or 2 bars but other than that it is pretty crappy.
Carnelian
Well-Known Member
We ain't in the city or suburbs, we are out in the sticks, town has a population of 100 maximum. As with everything there are the good & the bad.
My female bhp is 5 years old and 3 meters long. She is still growing nicely!
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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-27.608623,153.110089
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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-27.608623,153.110089
Two adult NT bhps are just over 9ft long,i measured them last april with a cloth tape measure,they are several years old and fed fairly well except for a fast from around march until september.
Ive seen larger ones in collections over the years,remember Mat Bonnett had a really big queensland bhp in a photo on his website.
Ive seen larger ones in collections over the years,remember Mat Bonnett had a really big queensland bhp in a photo on his website.
PilbaraPythons
Very Well-Known Member
I have got to say that there are indeed rare specimens of massive size pythons in the wild.
While I agree that the majority of the time snake sizes are highly exaggerated, once you are lucky enough to see a giant for yourself you will always have an open mind.
I have seen two true monsters in my life both in North QLD a truly giant water python and a giant Scubby.
Please don’t anyone ask how big the water python was because I highly doubt anyone is going to believe me. Let’s just say Australia’s is a very big special place of which we have over crawled over small bits of.
I am still waiting to find a large Pilbara Olive, so far I have been disappointed.
While I agree that the majority of the time snake sizes are highly exaggerated, once you are lucky enough to see a giant for yourself you will always have an open mind.
I have seen two true monsters in my life both in North QLD a truly giant water python and a giant Scubby.
Please don’t anyone ask how big the water python was because I highly doubt anyone is going to believe me. Let’s just say Australia’s is a very big special place of which we have over crawled over small bits of.
I am still waiting to find a large Pilbara Olive, so far I have been disappointed.
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