An emergency. You just open the door and run out. A dark summer night. There was an elderly man in the car and his family on the other side of the car yelling for me. I race to the gate and instead of placing my hand on the expected tubular frame it landed on something sinuous, scaly and muscular.
I guess it is one way to know you are alive. This little fella (a metre long) was sliding along the top of the gate. I guess he was as startled as I was. He couldn’t really give me a nip as his head was sliding through the mesh.
After a few words lept from my mouth the locals say “Don’t worry about that one, that one’s a quiet snake”. “He bin probably up there ‘cos another snake him bin chase him”.
Comforting words as I look around my feet in the dark.
I assume it is a Stimsons python. They have a wide range through arid Australia. However their colour and markings vary markedly throughout Australia (as do most snakes) and should never be used for identification in case of snake bite. I could have counted the scales for a positive ID.
Pictures of the Area of Distribution and the colour variations of the Stimsons python were sourced from Pilbara Pythons
For those interested in treating snake bite take a look at Life in The Fast Lane. He also has a nice article about the top 12 deadly dangerous snakes.
Enjoy! Just be careful where you put your hands.
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