When I first started telling people that I was traveling to Australia, many responded - Oh watch out for the snakes. It is true that Australia is home to many of the world's most deadly reptiles, but Catherine assured me that the winter landscape is a benign land where all those things that bite, sting, and kill are tucked away deep in hibernation. Catherine went on to assure me that in the four previous field seasons, she had never seen a snake. In the last two days, her tally has now increased to two. Apparently these serpents of the southern hemisphere do not always sleep for the entire winter.
We were walking along, engrossed in the rocks and the fabulous clasts in the Elatina formation. I noted an exceptionally large granite clast resting in the surrounding red rock. "Catherine check out that clast." Her response, "Oh my god!" I thought that I may have found the clast of all clasts from the emotion imbedded in her response; however, OMG was quickly followed by "SNAKE!" Without actually having my own visual of the beast, I screamed like a girl and tumbled backwards away from the clast and elusive snake.
Once at a safe distance, we reassessed the situation. The snake is an amazing animal easily disguised by the rock it sits upon. It was over a meter long and coiled as it enjoyed the afternoon sun. It was covered in brown spots that reminded me of a leopard's coat. While I evaluated the snake and considered the possibility of other snakes emerging from the rock crevices, Catherine evaluated the granite clast and decided that in fact it was quite nice and would make an excellent photo. Of all the Elatina in Australia, this clast was photo-worthy. It was then a matter of positioning the rock hammer just under the snake's resting place in order for a scale oriented photo. Couldn't the snake be used for scale? Consistency - it must be the hammer. The photo was taken and we moved much further down the creek for our lunch break.
Now, whenever I consider sitting down on an outcrop, I second guess how alone I in fact actually am and how difficult it is to awake a resting snake.
It seems your response to first seeing the snake would be the same as any other that saw it. I have never seen a snake in the wild but i know if i did, i wouldn't be there for too long.
ReplyDeleteI personally hate snakes so if i were you i would of ran and cried like a little baby honestly. But it's very interesting that there aren't many snakes out in Australia as i thought there would be. Great story.
ReplyDeleteI hate snakes but when you started describing what it looked like it just caught my attention. When you said you tumbled backwards just reminds me of when i was fishing and saw a snake how fast i started to move backwards. Great story!!!
ReplyDeleteSnakes scare me!!!! :( The way you described it made me read on though. Very good story!
ReplyDeleteI like snakes and always try to catch them. If i were you i would have attempted to catch it somehow without getting bit.
ReplyDeleteI don't like snakes, and if I had saw a snake in the wild i would not have stayed there for to long. If I had noticed it was a snake i probably would have screamed like a girl also. I only like snakes when they are in enclosed spaces like at the fair.
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ReplyDeleteIt seems strange how Catherine said she’s never seen a snake during the winter season and yet in two days you sighted two snakes. It also amazed my how well the snake was able to camouflage in with its surrounding. I thought it was funny how after you were spooked by the snake you evaluated it.