You know you are past it when.....

[longqi]

Got a call about a snake in a hole
By the time I got there they had a photo of the head poking out
Beauty
Lovely little water monitor lizard complete with long tongue etc etc
Wait a while
Head pops out to confirm everything
Hole vanishes around a corner
Slip light cotton bag over my hand and reach inside
Feel the body and start to slide it out

WHAT THE
Something not right here
Doesnt feel quite right
So start dumping the bag
Bag gets pushed back against my hand
Lucky grab and Im holding the head of a pretty unhappy spitting cobra
Entire corner of the bag is wet with venom

Two hours later still shaking
Maybe not too many lives left now

So what has happened to you lot to make you really think about things??

 

[Days1]

Wow...that's a wake up call!

 

[caliherp]

Damn that was a close one. During the warmer months my family and friends take our boats out to the delta.(a water way close to where I live) it was he end of the day I just got my boat on the trailer and my truck up off the ramp when nature called. I hi-tailed it to the bathroom, plopped my self on the toiled and let out a sigh of relief. I wiped the sweat off my head and looked down. There was a massive rattler curled up between my legs. It was still curled up, I grabbed the garbage can and set it on top of it. When I was done I got a couple of sticks and moved it to the fence line and dropped it over. To this day I still think about if I didn't run past this kid to get to the bathroom, what could have happened.

 

[longqi]

It was funny in a strange kind of way
Im sitting on wet grass shaking like a leaf waiting for the adrenalin to slow down
Cobra in a bag beside me
House owner didnt have a clue how close a call it was and patted me on the shoulder for some reason
Then said. 'Didnt realise it was so easy?? Looks harder on tv??"
Nearly bit his head off
Had to walk outside and slowly around the block before going back to explain and apologise

Monitor was removed for a quick inspection and released into the same hole to keep vermin away
They had obviously co-existed side by side for some time
Various droppings and shed skin left no other probability

 

[Firepac]

LOL now that is a wake up call. I remember someone saying to me when i was learning about vens..."Always expect the unexpected". But you certainly wouldn't be expecting anything like that. Glad it worked out ok.

 

[Wild~Touch]

Ah...longgi the Snake Gods always take care of their own

You've lived to tell the tale Thank Goodness

Cheers
Sandee

 

[SteveNT]

Yiiikes cobber!

Here's my mistake story.

At a camp near Litchfield NP. We had been getting raided by a cheeky goanna. If you put your plate down by the campfire he would come in under your chair and snatch a snag or chop and run away. After this happened 2 days in a row I was ready for him. Sure enough I heard him getting into position under my chair and saw a quick flick of forked tongue. I quickly grabbed under the chair and came up with......a really big king brown!!!

Happily I was able to throw him into the bush before he nailed me. Half a bottle of rum later I was still shaking ha ha.

All's well that ends well eh Peter?

 

[longqi]

When I was younger I would have just laughed about it and had a beer or three
But must admit that one shook me right up

Steve, glad someone else knows the feeling
I walked into my mates bar about 3 hours later
Im the only one on call just now so no drinking and he knows that
I sat down and he plonked 3 black sambuccas in front of me before he even knew what happened

Never again

until next time

 

[caliherp]

It was funny in a strange kind of way
Im sitting on wet grass shaking like a leaf waiting for the adrenalin to slow down
Cobra in a bag beside me
House owner didnt have a clue how close a call it was and patted me on the shoulder for some reason
Then said. 'Didnt realise it was so easy?? Looks harder on tv??"
Nearly bit his head off
Had to walk outside and slowly around the block before going back to explain and apologise

Monitor was removed for a quick inspection and released into the same hole to keep vermin away
They had obviously co-existed side by side for some time
Various droppings and shed skin left no other probability

I hear you there. Whenever I see a snake on the road I always stop and move it off. When I move the rattlers(I keep snake hooks in my truck at all times) I usually start to shake. My friends give me crap for it. One time my friend said "why are you trembling? You have a good 3 feet between you and that snake." My first reaction was to give him a ear full. I just replied, "if you only knew." Some people just don't realize how much long lasting damage vens can do. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who gets a rise out out of relocating snakes.

 

[Nathyrich]

A few years ago I was at a beach near Swansea with a few friends and my parents. My sister who was about 8 or 9 at the time found a shell in the water. She brought it up to me explaining that there was a hermit crab inside, I snatched it away from her for a look at it and noticed that there was something inside. So I started poking at it and it started to come out of the shell onto my hand, only when it was right out I noticed it was not a hermit crab but a little baby octopus so I poked it again and it flared up with the little blue rings, I quickly dropped it and told my father who got rid of it.
It's scary to think that something deadly like that can reside in a shell on a popular beach, I still think what happened if my sis didn't show me the shell straight away.

 

[thomasssss]

not reptile related but when i was doing trenches for the NBN we used to use a toro chain digger when we first started ( thats before we got a big vac truck that digs with water ) as we where trenching around peoples homes there was the chance of their being underground power

all services where supposed to be located for us before we got there , which they where but the inexperienced guy on the locator stuffed up and missed the underground power and the fools who laid it only laid it at around 300mm deep rather than the 500mm required

my mate was doing the digging and i was spotting for him when the chain jammed up on something ( usually rocks ) my mate lifted the chain and got it moving again ready to just drop it back down and keep digging , thats when i noticed the orange conduit just sticking out from underneath it

turns out we had cracked the conduit and stated to peel back the layers of insulation when the chain had jammed , i still wonder what would of happened if i hadn't of noticed the conduit or if i hadn't been watching him

 

[Snowman]

It was funny in a strange kind of way

Im sitting on wet grass shaking like a leaf waiting for the adrenalin to slow down
Cobra in a bag beside me
House owner didnt have a clue how close a call it was and patted me on the shoulder for some reason
Then said. 'Didnt realise it was so easy?? Looks harder on tv??"
Nearly bit his head off
Had to walk outside and slowly around the block before going back to explain and apologise

Monitor was removed for a quick inspection and released into the same hole to keep vermin away
They had obviously co-existed side by side for some time
Various droppings and shed skin left no other probability

Very close call! Maybe time to add an inspection camera to your kit for those holes! About $100-$200 on ebay depending on brand.

 

[pythonmum]

Very close call! Maybe time to add an inspection camera to your kit for those holes! About $100-$200 on ebay depending on brand.

A relocator in the Sydney area showed us one that he uses at an AHS meeting. VERY handy when you don't know what you are reaching for and want to see into a small place without putting your face near a ven. Of course, you saw the monitor and were ready for that, so probably wouldn't have helped... Glad it all turned out well, but it would certainly make me think some deep philosophical thoughts.

 

[Darlyn]

Monitor must have rented out his spare bedroom. How long did it take for your heart to slow down?