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“What a legend”: Brave Aussie pensioner saves puppy from a snake

<p dir="ltr">An Aussie pensioner has gone the extra mile to save her terrified puppy from a carpet snake. </p> <p dir="ltr">Anne Murphy, a woman from NSW’s Lennox Head, captured the moment her 80-year-old mother went toe-to-toe with the slippery intruder who was terrorising her dog and shared the interaction on a Facebook page called Australian Country Memes. </p> <p dir="ltr">According to Anne, her mother bolted out the door one Monday evening when she heard her dog “screaming”, when she was confronted with the carpet snake. </p> <p dir="ltr">The non-venomous snake had wrapped around the small dog and bitten it on the chin, when the 80-year-old intervened. </p> <p dir="ltr">The woman was “bitten three times” by the snake, before she “caught the snake so it could be taken out to the bush and hopefully not make its way back to her place”. </p> <p dir="ltr">She then took her puppy to the vet, and got home three hours after the incident first happened.</p> <p dir="ltr">The post has since received over 2,000 likes and hundreds comments, hailing the 80-year-old as a “legend“, “gutsy” and a “wonderful woman.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“She is a true blue here. My hat is off to you, amazing lady,” one person wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">Another added, “Way to go! That’s just what country people do. God love her, they don’t make them like that anymore.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images / Facebook</em></p>

Family & Pets

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How to snake-proof your house and garden

<p>If there’s one thing that strikes fear into many Australians, it’s snakes. Sure, some of them are harmless but they are still the last thing you want to see in your home or garden. There are some ways to make your home less inviting to these reptiles.</p> <p><strong>1. Block their entrance</strong></p> <p>Snakes like to hide in quiet places such as your roof, garage or underneath the house. Try to make it harder for them to get in by covering any holes leading in or out, and ensuring that screens and doors are kept shut.</p> <p><strong>2. Keep your garden tidy</strong></p> <p>Snakes like to hide, so keep things neat in the backyard to stop them finding a place to do so. Keep your lawns mowed, and garden beds weeded. Keep your shed locked, and be sure to have a clear out regularly to remove any old boxes. If you have wood stored outside try to have minimal space between each piece so that they can’t use it as shelter. Avoid keeping grass clippings and mulch in a pile as snacks find the warmth appealing.</p> <p><strong>3. Seal holes in walls</strong></p> <p>Snakes love rock and brick walls as they can use them to keep warm, provide shelter, and find food. Block up any holes that they could hide in by filling them in.</p> <p><strong>4. Reduce the rodent population</strong></p> <p>Snakes like houses that have mice and rats, so try reducing their numbers. Place bait in your house and garden (ensure it is pet-friendly) and this should reduce the chances of snakes hanging around.</p> <p><strong>5. Keep birds safe</strong></p> <p>Ensure any chook pens or bird cages are well protected from snakes entering them. Also be sure to keep them clean so that rats and mice aren’t entering the pens either.</p> <p><strong>6. Keep your bins tidy</strong></p> <p>When you dispose of food scraps, always ensure they are in a sealed garbage bag in your bin, rather than just loose. This will keep rats and mice away, and therefore snakes too.</p> <p><strong>7. Watch your plant choice</strong></p> <p>Think about the types of plants in your garden if snakes are an issue. Low shrubs and bushes are the ideal spot for a snake. Taller trees and flowers could be a better option. Also be sure to keep leaf litter to a minimum as it’s the perfect hiding spot for snakes.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

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“Rarest species of feline on Earth”: Unique cat mystifies the internet

<p dir="ltr">A photo of the “rarest species of feline on Earth”, a cat with black and neon yellow stripes, has mystified the internet.</p> <p dir="ltr">The incredible photo of the “Amazon snake cat” is truly unbelievable.</p> <p dir="ltr">The image of the so-called “Serpens Cattus”, a feline with black and neon-yellow stripes resembling a snake, made waves online, with social media posts claiming it was the “rarest species of feline on Earth”. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Serpens Cattus is the rarest species of feline on Earth. These Animals live in hard-to-reach regions of the Amazon rainforest, and therefore they are relatively poorly studied,” a Twitter user claimed. “The first images capturing the snake cat appeared only in 2020. Weighs up to 4 stone (25kgs).”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://t.co/rpeMQKCF4I">pic.twitter.com/rpeMQKCF4I</a></p> <p>— Jeff_kamara2 (@Kamara2R) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kamara2R/status/1635669633553367040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">A now-deleted Reddit post of the “Serpens Cattus” attracted several comments who flagged the feline as not being real. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Obvious fake. No known gene can produce natural hair or fur of those (navy and bright yellow) colours,” one commented.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Really rough attempt at a fake Latin name,” a second person chimed in. “One google about species naming would have made this a lot less obvious.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The post caught the eye of zoology experts to verify the authenticity of the photo.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, the colours and patterns on the female bare a strong resemblance to the reptilian boiga dendrophila, which is commonly referred to as the “gold-ringed cat snake”.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo &amp; Conservation Biology Institute, the snake is found in the same countries where the “Amazon snake cat” was rumoured to be found. </p> <p dir="ltr">The serpent-like feline slid over to TikTok, where one user claimed that the species lived in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He’s in the next fantastic beasts,” laughed one user referencing the Harry Potter spin-off franchise.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Use this s**t for good not to misinform,” another user wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Stop sharing bulls**t,” a third commented. </p> <p dir="ltr">It's clear to see the mysterious feline has certainly left some in hiss-belief.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-919797d4-7fff-89ab-2d2e-e88b391d041a"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Twitter</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Russell Crowe’s close call with slithery “buddy”

<p dir="ltr">Russell Crowe has shared a snap of the venomous snake he had a close encounter with over the weekend, with a warning for others who could come in contact with them.</p> <p dir="ltr">Crowe came across the snake while walking barefoot outside his home in Nana Glen, to the west of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6691f7c2-7fff-d812-7f3b-8770e1449cfd">“On the driveway. Me and my buddy Band Bandy. Thankfully, his markings broadcast his presence,” the <em>Gladiator</em> star wrote on Twitter, accompanied by a photo of the reptile.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">On the driveway. Me and my buddy Bandy Bandy.<br />Thankfully, his markings broadcast his presence. Broke one of my own rules, walking outside, at night, without shoes. A little reminder of the folly of that choice. <a href="https://t.co/wP0YNNLXkJ">pic.twitter.com/wP0YNNLXkJ</a></p> <p>— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) <a href="https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/1599342690751361025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“Broke my own rules, walking outside at night, without shoes. A little reminder of the folly of that choice.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-501b7a5d-7fff-05e4-bac2-ae108b03f4ce"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The 58-year-old also shared a clip of the Bandy Bandy, a snake that is endemic to Australia, with the caption: “Who’s my buddy now?”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Who’s my buddy now ? <a href="https://t.co/tgkmxPVUD9">pic.twitter.com/tgkmxPVUD9</a></p> <p>— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) <a href="https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/1599341335861133312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">His close call comes shortly after he shot down rumours he had married Britney Theriot, his girlfriend of two years, after the <em>Broken City</em> actress was spotted leaving an Italian hotel wearing a ring on her wedding ring.</p> <p dir="ltr">Crowe reportedly dismissed the gossip in a text message to 2Day FM radio host Erin Molan.</p> <p dir="ltr">“'[He texted me] Yeah, good guess. We are not married'.. Yeah, they are not married…” Molan said on the <em>Hughesy, Ed, Erin</em> show last month.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-dbdd28f5-7fff-1a97-126f-56491f8930fa"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Family finds 1.3m snake wrapped around mirror

<p><em>Image: Brisbane North Snake Catcher/Facebook</em></p> <p>Checking your rear-view mirrors is essential before driving off. However, one Queensland family has discovered another big reason to perform this important safety check.</p> <p>The family had been off enjoying a picnic north of Brisbane on Sunday. Upon returning to the car – much to their shock – have discovered a large snake wrapped around the rear view mirror.</p> <p>According to Brisbane North Snake Catcher director Josh Castle, this was an unusual place to find a snake. “I’ve never seen it,” he told 7News.</p> <p>“I have pulled them out of car bonnets and stuff like that, which is more to be expected because they can into a bonnet from underneath.</p> <p>“The fact it was actually in the car and soaking in the sun through the window on the mirror is quite weird.”</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845991/new-project-8.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/44e7a1c59704460f8dd92137545a5f90" /></p> <p>The snake has been identified as a coastal carpet python approximately 1.3.m.</p> <p>“We’ve pretty much found them everywhere now. That pretty much tickets every box on where we’ve found them,” he said.</p> <p>Naturally, the internet absolutely lost its collective mind when photos of the car invader emerged.</p> <p>“Sell the damn car, it belongs to the snake now,” wrote another.</p>

Travel Trouble

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Sneaky snake stumps social media

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A photo shared by a snake catcher has left dozens scratching their heads while attempting to spot the hidden reptile.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The image, shared by Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7, asked followers if they could see where the snake was in the photo.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though many people commented on the “fairly easy” post with their guesses, with the apparently normal-looking hedge making some followers question their eyesight.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.53846153846155px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843356/bef582329eea8dc282fa83f634b91c739e44667e.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6734aa1f44754460b304507088e54da9" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Facebook</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If this is easy I have no chance with a hard one,” one person commented.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I would die in Australia because I would never see snakes,” a second added.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The snake catchers later revealed the answer, sharing how the snake was in the corner of the bush.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.53846153846155px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843355/6eafa83184257125b349b84513c8a407e9319e78.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/fdec6f5e04c74c5bb321f33548a225c6" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Facebook</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The team had rescued the reptile after residents saw the Coastal Carpet Python near their house.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though Coastal Carpet Pythons aren’t venomous, they can still cause considerable damage to people.</span></p>

Family & Pets

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Woolworths shopper finds python snake in the spice section

<p>A woman shopping at Woolworths in Glenorie says she was looking in the spice aisle and her face was suddenly 20cm away from a three-metre-long python.</p> <p>Speaking to 7NEWS.com.au, the shopper – Helaina Alati - said: “I was browsing and turned to my left and he had come out and his face was about 20cm from mine, just looking at me.”</p> <p>“It was almost like he was asking me to take him outside!</p> <p>“I just happened to be the one that found it.</p> <p>“He must have been there for at least a few hours. He was sort of hidden behind the spices and I didn’t see him at first.</p> <p>As luck would have it, Alati is a former volunteer snake catcher, so she offered to rescue the slithery fellow.</p> <p>“It was super mellow, not aggressive at all. I’m guessing he came down from the ceiling. He was about 10ft (3 metres) long!” she said.</p> <p>“I’m glad I’m the one that found him, most people would have freaked out!” she added.</p> <p>“I told the staff I used to be a volunteer snake catcher so I grabbed my snake bag and relocated him into the bush.”</p> <p>Most shoppers at Woolworths would’ve have been so calm to find a three-metre python in the spice aisle of their local supermarket, but Alati said there was nothing to worry about.</p> <p>“He was so relaxed and non-aggressive,” she said.</p> <p>“Don’t want to demonise these beautiful animals anymore!”</p> <p>Alati bundled the python into a material bag and released the snake safely to the surrounding bushland shortly after.</p> <p>A spokesperson for Woolworths told 7NEWS.com.au the matter was dealt with calmly and safely.</p> <p>“A slippery and rare customer was spotted in the spice aisle of our Glenorie store yesterday morning,” the spokesperson said.</p> <p>“Once it was sighted, our team members reacted quickly and calmly to cordon off the area for the safety of customers.</p> <p>“A snake catcher removed the slithery customer, who was released safely into bushland shortly after.”</p> <p>It’s still unknown as to how the snake came to be inside the store but it’s believed Woolworths has animal control measures in place and the Glenorie store has done some checks of these measures.</p> <p><em>Photo: 7NEWS.com.au</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Women’s horrifying attack after sitting on toilet

<p><span>A woman has learnt a strange and horrifying lesson after she was bitten on the bottom by a python when she sat on the toilet.</span><br /><br /><span>Boonsong Plaikaew, 54, was about to finish her business while on the loo at her house in Samut Prakan, in central Thailand, when she felt a searing pain shoot across her bottom on October 19.</span><br /><br /><span>A worrying amount of blood began to run down her legs and pants before she saw the snake bite her again, this time on the finger.</span><br /><br /><span>She pulled the two-metre-long python off her finger and ran out of the toilet begging for help.</span><br /><br /><span>Animal rescuers and paramedics arrived at roughly the same time.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7838412/daily.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/758ed00d978e4e68883c700cef7259bc" /><br /><br /><span>They gave Mrs. Plaikaew first-aid treatment after checking on her wounds before rushing her to the hospital.</span><br /><br /><span>Speaking at the hospital, the shocked woman said she had just finished urinating when the python struck.</span><br /><br /><span>“I did not see the snake hiding inside the bowl, so I was just doing my stuff when I was attacked,” she said.</span><br /><br /><span>The woman was allowed to go home after having a health check-up.</span><br /><br /><span>Thankfully the snake was not venomous.</span><br /><br /><span>Rescuers were able to capture the python who was found slithering on the bathroom floor.</span><br /><br /><span>They placed the animal in a sack and took it with them to be released in the wild at a later time.</span><br /><br /><span>“From now on, I'll check the toilet every time before I sit down,” Boonsong added.</span></p>

Travel Trouble

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Shadow Catchers review: Fakes, body doubles and mirrors from the analog to the digital lens

<p><em>Review: </em><a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shadow-catchers/"><em>Shadow Catchers</em></a><em> at Art Gallery of New South Wales.</em></p> <p>Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-28/vladimir-putin-says-he-never-used-body-double/12009780">denied using a body double</a>, saying he’d been offered one before but declined. The rest of us, in our glorious anonymity, might take up the offer. An actual person could shadow us through daily life. They could hold us tight while we attend to the task of living. They could reply to emails, chauffeur children and stand in for us at work while we go to the beach instead.</p> <p>Body doubles come into focus in a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Curated by Isobel Parker Philip, <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shadow-catchers/">Shadow Catchers</a> includes almost 90 works from the art gallery’s collection: photography, video, sculpture and installations from Australia’s most respected artists, alongside important international works.</p> <p>Common to the works is the use of shadows, body doubles and mirrors, many of which challenge a straight forward understanding of photography and the moving image.</p> <p><strong>The camera can lie</strong></p> <p>Shadow Catchers shows that since the <a href="https://photo-museum.org/niepce-invention-photography/">first photography in 1827</a>, the medium has given us truthful copies of ourselves and the world. However, we also know it is easily exploited. In the era of fake news, we increasingly question the veracity of images.</p> <p>One of the oldest works in the exhibition, Clarence H. White and Alfred Stieglitz’ 1907 work <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/425.1977/">Experiment 27</a> (lady in white with crystal ball), shows images have long performed a dual function of revealing but also manipulating or concealing reality. The exhibition presents us with distortions, mirror images and doppelgangers and brings us truth and fiction in equal measure.</p> <p>Viewing the works of <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/412.2016.1-120/">Patrick Pound</a>, <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=redgate-jacky">Jacky Redgate</a> and <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=phillips-debra">Debra Phillips</a>, I wondered whether I was seeing the moon, the Earth, a UFO, a mirror or a simple ball.</p> <p>I was drawn into the cosy domestic space of what I thought was a lesbian couple. Instead, I was being intimately invited by <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=phillips-emma">Emma Phillips</a> to witness the tenderness of twin attachment.</p> <p>The self-splitting allure of the mirror reveals itself in works by <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/moffatt-tracey/">Tracey Moffatt</a> and <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=morley-lewis">Lewis Morley</a> (famous for his portrait of Christine Keeler). The erotic force of a simple shop mannequin is the signature of French photographer <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=molinier-pierre">Pierre Molinier</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=bing-ilse">Ilse Bing</a>’s intimate self-portrait from 1931 illustrates the central curatorial premise, duplicating her dark beauty in a staging of two angled mirrors where she looks both at us and away from us.</p> <p>Other highlights include eight imposing photographs by <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=raskopoulos-eugenia">Eugenia Raskopoulos</a>. Activating the illusory properties of the mirror after a hot shower, letters from the Greek alphabet are wiped onto the steamy surface.</p> <p><strong>Grand scale</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=fairskye-merilyn">Merilyn Fairskye</a>’s large scale portraits, printed on a plastic substrate, emit a shadow onto the wall behind them and create a schism that gently ruptures the faces of her subjects.</p> <p>Body double, a work by <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?artist_id=rrap-julie">Julie Rrap</a>, is the centrepiece of the exhibition. The artist has worked with notions of the double in sculpture, video and photography since the early 1980s. Two silicon rubber casts of the artist’s body lie corpse-like on a stage, one face down and one face up. A ghost-like figure of a man or a woman is projected onto the bodies. The projection of the body rolls across the stage from one figure to the other, appearing to resuscitate the silicon forms.</p> <p>The organisation of the works across four rooms intermingles historical works with the contemporary, reminding us that the present is always informed by the past.</p> <p>The exhibition offers a poetic reflection and critical account of our enduring fascination with technologies of representation.</p> <p>While the exhibition successfully returns us to photography’s past and the defiant contribution of postmodern approaches to “doubling”, it neglects to question our current and future predicament.</p> <p>The world today is saturated, even drowning, in shadows, which we are too slow or too tired to catch. Today we share the world with millions of our body doubles whether we want to or not.</p> <p>Shadows and mirrors follow us through daily life and reflect us in the screens of our digital devices, ultrasound images, x-rays, dentists’ moulds; our experience of ourselves in the world is constantly mediated through the experience of seeing ourselves duplicated. Bitmoji, digital avatars, gaming skins, VR personas, Instagram feeds, CCTV surveilance and passport scans mean we have plenty of body doubles lurking in cyberspace.</p> <p>It is suggested we live in a <a href="https://www.lensculture.com/articles/mois-de-la-photo-montreal-biennale-2015-the-post-photographic-condition">post-photographic</a> time. What this means is that technology is creating images of and with us, for and not for us. These may be better or worse than our mortal bodies and mostly beyond our control.</p> <p><em>Shadow Catchers is showing at Art Gallery of New South Wales until May 17.</em></p> <p><em>Written by Cherine Fahd. Republished with permission of </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/shadow-catchers-review-fakes-body-doubles-and-mirrors-from-the-analog-to-the-digital-lens-132668"><em>The Conversation.</em></a></p> <p><em> </em></p>

Movies

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20kg mating pythons crash through Queensland couple’s ceiling

<p>It’s snake breeding season in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia<span> and a local couple got the shock of their lives as two massive pythons crashed through their ceiling whilst mating.</span></p> <p>The pair looked up to see the ceiling flex and crack under the weight of the two pythons, who are estimated to be about 20kg each. The pair managed to slither into the couple’s home via the roof.</p> <p>The size of the pythons and the rigorous activity was too much for the ceiling and the pythons crashed onto the floor.</p> <p>Matt Hagan and Jason Legg of Cairns Snake Catchers were called into the home.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcairnssnakecatcher%2Fposts%2F2369206379992662&amp;width=500" width="500" height="795" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></p> <p>“Extracting this dynamic duo was no easy feat and ultimately resulted in the ceiling giving way as these snakes made a particularly dramatic entry into the office!” the snake catchers wrote on Facebook on Sunday.</p> <p>“If you are lucky enough to host a scrub python party in your roof space this breeding season (end of July to late September) it can get pretty wild as males fight each other to impress females,” they warned.</p> <p>“Occasionally these interactions can result in strange smells wafting through different rooms, and even structural damage to your house in the form or ceiling stains or cracks.”</p>

Home & Garden

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Snake Island: The real-life destination straight out of your nightmares

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Snake Island is an island that’s about 33 kilometres off the coast of Brazil. It’s near Sao Paulo, and it’s so dangerous that humans are forbidden to go there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Not that you’d want to. The Island is full to the brim with venomous snakes. They’re known as golden lancehead vipers, with venom so strong it can melt flesh.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Up to 4,000 of the golden lancehead vipers live on this island, which humans fled a century ago.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brazilian authorities only give permission to a few scientists to visit the island each year, and there’s a naval patrol around the island to ensure no one else gets too close.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, that hasn’t stopped </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">60 Minutes</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> reporter Tara Brown from heading to the island.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brown said she’s excited about adventure. She told </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/travellers-stories/snake-island-is-a-reallife-land-of-deadly-vipers-straight-out-of-your-nightmares/news-story/97ec26a62e40ae0ee6a9af62044d0d33"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au:</span></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m always excited about adventure and new destinations and this was sold as a pretty exciting one, and a unique opportunity to see a special habitat that’s highly protected,” Brown explained.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Then I was told there were 4000 of some of the world’s most deadly snakes on the island.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When we’re speaking to local fisherman, they told us, ‘That’s not a good idea, you don’t want to go there’. There are legends about a whole family being killed there, and of pirates burying treasure on the island and the snakes being put there to protect the treasure.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The fishermen said they never went there, or they would die.”</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">Snake Island is home to 4,000 of the world’s most dangerous snakes. Their deadly venom can melt human flesh – but could also be the source of the world’s next wonder drug. Full story: <a href="https://t.co/JOA1aCAllq">https://t.co/JOA1aCAllq</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/60Mins?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#60Mins</a> <a href="https://t.co/mfYswb8w0e">pic.twitter.com/mfYswb8w0e</a></p> — 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Mins/status/1110466421966790656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">26 March 2019</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is said to be between one and five golden lanceheads per square metre on Snake Island. Brown encountered a few on her journey into the rainforest. She joined the scientists who are allowed to head onto the island.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“To my mind, there could be a snake anywhere and you’re always on high alert, and a big part of me was saying, ‘Oh no, please don’t let there be a snake there’,” Brown said of the journey.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the snakes have been cut off from the mainland, they’ve had to evolve to survive.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brown explained:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They’re different to their mainland cousins in that they’re five times more venomous and they are among the top 10 most poisonous snakes in the world,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They hunt and eat birds. Not the local birds, who have become too smart for them, but larger migratory birds, boobies, who come by on their migration. And the snakes’ venom has become more potent because their prey is bigger.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s an incredibly interesting evolutionary experiment for scientists to observe. This is a laboratory in the wild, if you like. You see evolution at play.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The scientists are interested in the venom of the golden lancehead viper, as it allows scientists to track the wellbeing of the snakes as well as help develop life saving medication.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s a blood pressure medication (captopril) which was developed 40 years ago from the venom of lancehead vipers, which is an incredibly popular and widely used medicine today,” Brown said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“While snakes are not naturally loveable to me, that doesn’t mean I don’t admire their resilience and how they respond to their environment,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’re seeing nature at play and there’s a wonderment to that. And they are quite beautiful — from a distance.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Would you head to Snake Island? Let us know in the comments.</span></p>

Travel Trouble

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Terrified woman discovers red-bellied black snake in her bedroom

<p>As a woman from Holsworthy in NSW woke up to face another day, she got the fright of her life as she saw a red-bellied black snake slither across her bedroom floor.</p> <p>As she awoke, she noticed her dog staring at her bed as “stiff as a board”.</p> <p>It was then she realised that there was a 1.2m red-bellied black snake in her bedroom.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7822857/snake-video-screenshot.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9583291bcae74c4ca3e8a69e0bd09b22" /></p> <p>The removal of the snake was “quick and painless”, according to Kane Durrant from WILD Snake Catchers.</p> <p>“Sometimes it can take much longer but luckily today the snake was out and about and the resident had closed the door and kept an eye on the exit.”</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fwildspec%2Fvideos%2F1145882328916058%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>Mr Durrant was shocked to be called out to the same resident's house, as he had just removed another red-bellied black snake from their backyard just two weeks prior.</p> <p>He explained why the snake had decided to go indoors: <span>“I guess the bedroom is quite scary as you sleep in there and should feel safe.</span></p> <p>“Hot weather like this week can push snakes indoors searching for a cool spot to rest.”</p> <p>Have you woken up to a snake in your bedroom? What did you do? Let us know in the comments.</p>

Home & Garden

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Man finds snake alive in brand new kitchen appliance

<p>When Barry Downes arrived home from his post-Christmas shopping, he was just looking to relax and have a cup of tea with the kettle he had just bought.</p> <p>What he didn’t expect was something alive slithering out of the appliance box and into his kitchen.</p> <p>Downes, from Paddington, London, purchased the kettle from department store Argos on December 28. </p> <p>“I made a cup of tea and went to sit down to drink it,” said Downes. </p> <p>“When I came back into the kitchen I spotted something on the floor.”</p> <p>At first, Downes thought it was a piece of string or plastic packaging due to his sight problems. </p> <p>“I picked it up to put it in the bin, but then it started wriggling.”</p> <p>He then trapped the snake under a saucepan lid and called the RSPCA for assistance.</p> <p>The RSPCA identified the reptile as a young corn snake. Animal collection officer Ella Davies, who collected the snake, said it might have snuck into the box at a storage warehouse in the country.</p> <p>“Corn snakes are talented escape artists, so I suspect this little one has escaped from a vivarium somewhere,” said Davies.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D2381499588543994%26id%3D305736432786997&amp;width=500" width="500" height="822" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></p> <p>The unharmed snake will be transferred to a specialist centre before being relocated to a “proper” wildlife habitat.</p> <p>An Argos spokesperson said, “We’re surprised to hear about this incident, and are investigating with the supplier.”</p> <p>Meanwhile in Australia, a snake horrified shoppers as it <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/home-garden/my-worst-nightmare-woman-s-terrifying-discovery-in-shopping-centre-car-park">snuck into a car grill</a> in a shopping centre parking lot. Queensland also saw <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/snake-bite-spike-9-people-hospitalised-in-one-day-after-increasing-number-of-attacks">nine people getting hospitalised for snake bites</a> in one night in December.</p>

Home & Garden

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Travelling on The Ghan: Confronting my fear of snakes in Australia’s Red Centre

<p><em>Justine Tyerman continues her series about The Ghan Expedition, a 2979km four-day, three-night train journey through the ‘Red Centre’ of Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. On Day 2, she wears long pants and socks and shoes, not sandals and definitely not jandals, on a hot day in Alice Springs.</em></p> <p>After narrowly missing the spectacle of an Aussie bushfire by showering at precisely the wrong moment on my first evening on The Ghan, I slept with my venetian blinds open for the entire four-day, three-night trip for fear of missing another dramatic sight. I was rewarded with beautiful moonlit scenes of vast deserts, dry riverbeds, distant ranges and silvery light flickering behind gum trees.</p> <p>My hospitality attendant Aaron knocked on our cabin doors early on Day 2 to make sure we were up, breakfasted and ready for our day in and around Alice Springs, Australia’s most famous Outback town.</p> <p>Dawn was magical as the bright light of the huge desert sun gradually illuminated Australia’s ‘Red Centre’ and the land began to glow. I loved watching the dark shadow of the train flickering across the terracotta terrain. It’s moments like these I wish I had a drone to view The Ghan tracking across the landscape from above. The area was dead flat like the Nullarbor Plain, but with trees.</p> <p>Breakfast in the Queen Adelaide Restaurant was a feast beginning with tropical juice and a choice of cereals, muesli, yoghurt, barramundi benedict, a full breakfast with everything - bacon, sausages, baked beans, tomatoes, spinach and eggs every way you could think of . . . or white chocolate and lychee pancakes.</p> <p>“I’ll diet next week,” I promised myself as I tucked into the pancakes.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 375px; height: 500px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7821700/image_.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/76ef54f2335f4bc7866b1b70525c1d79" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>White chocolate and lychee pancakes for breakfast.</em></p> <p style="text-align: left;">I offered one to the farmers from South Australia I was sharing a table with but they were already having trouble getting through a full breakfast and barramundi benedict.</p> <p>At every meal, I added to my general knowledge about Australia. This salt-of-the-earth couple were producing special merino wool with a low itch-factor. Amazing!</p> <p>After breakfast, Aaron came to check on my kit for the day. We had been advised to wear long pants, socks and covered-in footwear but I hadn’t really given much thought to the reasoning behind it.</p> <p>“It’s for snake protection,” Aaron said cheerfully.</p> <p>Noticing the look of horror on my face, he added: “This IS the Northern Territory and this IS snake season.”</p> <p>I toyed with the idea of opting for the bus trip to the School of the Air, the Royal Flying Doctor Service Base and the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame instead of a day hiking in snake country but Aaron eyed me and hinted that would be ‘wussy’.</p> <p>“Just stamp your feet as you walk, stay in the middle of the bunch, and you’ll be fine,” he said.</p> <p>So I ‘womaned-up’, put on extra-thick socks and long-pants, faced my worst fears and had a brilliant day hiking.</p> <p>It was forecast to be a mere 32 degrees so the day was not too scorching hot.</p> <p>Disembarking at Alice Springs, we were greeted by an impressive bronze statue of an Afghan cameleer.</p> <p>The plaque told us that work on the planned railway from Adelaide to Darwin began in 1878 assisted by hardy Afghans and their camels that ferried passengers, food, supplies and freight to Alice Springs. When the railway reached Alice in 1929, the train became known as The Afghan Express and later The Ghan.</p> <p>The township of Alice Springs began life in 1871 as a repeater station along the Overland Telegraph Line. Alice is just 200km south of the geographical centre of Australia - halfway between Darwin and Adelaide, literally the ‘Red Centre’ of Australia. The economy is based on tourism, farming, gas and mining.</p> <p>Called ‘Mpwante’ by the indigenous Arrernte people, the area has been inhabited by them for around 40,000 years. The population is 28,000 of whom 20 percent are aboriginal.</p> <p>Our coach driver Andrew was an excellent guide with extensive knowledge of the region, especially the flora and fauna, from his days as a nurseryman.</p> <p>Our first stop was a historical site at the foot of Mt Gillen - a memorial to John Flynn (1880-1951), a Presbyterian minister whose vision was to construct ‘a mantle of safety over the Outback’. Flynn founded the Australian Inland Mission to bring medical, social and religious services to isolated Outback communities. In 1928, he set up the first flying doctor base in Cloncurry, Queensland, and soon after, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance, was born.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 329.0909090909091px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7821702/1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6b433b8350b94ca4bb7264141399581e" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>A memorial to Rev John Flynn who set up the first flying doctor base in Cloncurry, Queensland in 1928. Soon after, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance, was born.</em></p> <p>Andrew then led us on a nature walk, talking about points of interest such as the parallel MacDonnell Ranges formed 350 million years ago.</p> <p>He said deliberate controlled burning in the cooler months dated back to ancient times - it triggers the germination of species called fire weeds such as wattles or acacia. Buffel grass was introduced in 1961 as stock food but is now a pest, strangling other grasses.<br /><br />We came across a corkwood tree over 300 years old. Protected from extreme temperatures and bushfires by its thick bark, the Arrernte people make a paste from the ash of the burnt bark to heal wounds and even relieve teething pain.</p> <p>We stood beneath a beautiful 200-year-old ghost gum with a pure white trunk and branches. It survives in such arid conditions because of its far-reaching roots that extend sideways as far as the leaf canopy, seeking underground water.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7821703/image_.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/bee3553f5d244aedb796a239c3618017" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>A ghost gum at sunset at the Alice Springs Overland Telegraph Station.</em></p> <p>As I gazed skyward at the giant tree, Andrew casually said he spotted four snakes at the base of the tree yesterday.</p> <p>Seeing the look on my face, Lisa, who accompanied us from The Ghan, said:</p> <p>“Don’t worry Justine. Aussie snakes are scaredy-cats. They hide from people, not like South African snakes which are aggressive and come after you.”</p> <p>‘Note to self – do NOT go to South Africa.’</p> <p>The next part of the expedition took us up to the Cassia Hill Lookout with stunning views of the Alice Valley, Heavitree Range and Simpson’s Gap. The arid, rocky terrain looked very snaky to me so I stayed with the group and stamped all the way to the top of the hill, much to the amusement of a chap from Brisbane who said he had a king brown living under a rock in his garden.</p> <p>“Yes, it’s venomous,” he replied to my obvious question, “but it’s been there for years and doesn’t bother me.”</p> <p>“Really?” I replied, incredulous.</p> <p>“Yep. They’re also known as mulga snakes – there are large stands of mulga around these parts.”</p> <p>Gulp!</p> <p>An Aussie couple piped up saying they found a highly poisonous brown snake in bag of garden bark the other day, and chopped its head off with a spade.</p> <p>I made it to the top of the hill safely and was so fascinated by the geology of the area, I forgot all about snakes. The ancient rust-stained ranges surrounding us were the sandy bottom of an inland sea about 900 million years ago. Over time, enormous pressure from within the earth slowly raised the sea floor causing the water to drain away.</p> <p>The schist rock we were standing on was 1600 million years old, one of the oldest rock formations in Australia.</p> <p>The last of our hikes was to the spectacular Simpson’s Gap, a deep gash in the mountain range 60 million years in the making. Known to the Arrernte people as ‘Rungutjirpa’, the gap is the mythological home of their giant goanna ancestors and the site of several Dreaming trails.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 500px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7821704/image_.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/cf0ec7d82ecf4a1a80feed754f3c5caf" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Simpsons Gap from the top of Cassia Hill.</em></p> <p>The first Europeans to explore the gap were the surveyors for the Overland Telegraph Line who came upon the area while searching for a route north from Alice Springs. It was named Simpsons Gap after A. A. Simpson, President of the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society.  The Simpson Desert was also named in his honour.</p> <p>As we hiked along a path beside a dry riverbed, the rock walls began to close in on us until the canyon narrowed to a cleft just a few metres wide. The track came to an end at a deep pool which, in years gone by, fed into Roe Creek, the dry riverbed of which we had just walked alongside. The craggy red rock faces soaring high above us on both sides glowed in the reflected light of the pool, and from some angles, overlapped and intersected, casting deep shadows.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 375px; height: 500px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7821705/image_.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b66037c4563c4c1f801c7d9bd2e6f389" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Justine at the pool at Simpsons Gap. Note the long pants, covered-in shoes and long-sleeved shirt on a hot day - snake protection!</em></p> <p>It was deliciously cool in the shade so I lingered there a while, absorbing the spell-binding atmosphere and tranquillity of the place. As my fingers traced the crevices of the ancient rocks, I wondered what stories they could tell after 60 million years. I felt a deep sense of reverence for ‘Rungutjirpa’.</p> <p>I took my time heading back to the bus, hoping to see signs of the colony of black-footed rock wallabies that inhabit a rocky outcrop below a cliff face. Only about half a metre tall and well-camouflaged, they’re hard to spot but after a while, I fancied I saw something hopping. I claimed it as a wallaby sighting anyway.</p> <p> A pair of statuesque rock pinnacles stood nearby as if guarding the colony. They looked like huge man-made sculptures, hewn from the rock.</p> <p>An information board about the 240km Larapinta Trail, one of Australia’s newest and most popular trails, took my eye. I’d love to spend more time exploring this magnificent landscape, and now I’ve (almost) overcome my snake phobia, it’s entirely possible. Looking back on the day, I saw little scenery at first because I was so conscious of scanning the terrain and watching my footing but after a while I relaxed and forgot all about my fears.</p> <p>We had a late lunch at the Alice Springs Desert Park where passengers who did not want to hike watched a free-flight bird show, met resident dingoes, visited desert animals of the night at the nocturnal house and learned about the flora, fauna and geology of the area.</p> <p>After freshening up back at The Ghan, coaches transferred us to the historic Alice Springs Telegraph Station for dinner under a canopy of stars, entertained by a trio playing popular hits, country and western and trained-themed songs.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7821707/image_.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/340e42d11148435ea29ce3a95e3d92ab" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>The historic Alice Springs Overland Telegraph Station, our venue for dinner under the stars.</em></p> <p>Our brilliant chefs from The Ghan prepared an absolutely delicious feast starting with chicken and leak pie entrée with a bush chutney and paw paw salad, followed by a main course of succulent beef tenderloins, jacket potatoes, salads and roast vegetables, and desserts of pavlova, chocolate brownies and cheeses and dried fruits.</p> <p>The wines, as always on The Ghan and her sister train, the Indian Pacific, were sensational but the Wolf Blass Pinot Sparkling Chardonnay had an extra effervescence that night.</p> <p>After two days of mixing and mingling, I was surrounded by familiar faces, and the sense of joie de vivre and bonhomie was infectious. People were dancing, singing, riding the resident camels, watching a blacksmith at work and exploring the beautiful stone buildings of the historic telegraph station.</p> <p>Sylvia from Barcelona, one of my new friends, had taken the opportunity to fly to Uluru for the day, an optional extra offered on The Ghan. She was ecstatic about the experience, something I’ll hopefully do on my next trip to Australia.</p> <p>Later in the evening, as the stars began to twinkle in the clearest sky in years, an astronomer named Dan gave us a guided tour of the night sky. Armed with a powerful laser beam, he pointed out the Southern Cross, Milky Way, Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, Mars, Venus and many of the constellations. Peppered with inimitable Aussie humour, it was informative and highly entertaining.</p> <p>Before the night was over, I strolled around the station and learned about the obstacles faced by pioneer Sir Charles Todd and his team in constructing the Overland Telegraph Line that linked Australia to the world.</p> <p>The 2900km line extended from Port Augusta in South Australia, to Palmerston (now Darwin) in the Northern Territory, along a route closely following that of explorer John McDouall Stuart. Construction of the line with its 36,000 poles began in 1871 and was completed in just 23 months, opening in August 1872. It linked with an underwater cable network to London, meaning that communications that had once taken 120 days to arrive by ship now took only 48 hours.</p> <p>The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was established in 1871 and was one of 12 along the line. The station operated 24 hours a day and was basically self-sufficient, relying on provisions arriving from the south only once a year. Sheep, goats, cattle and their own vegetable garden ensured adequate food and the blacksmith made much of their equipment.</p> <p>The station ceased operation in 1932 when it was replaced by more modern facilities in town. Since its closure, the station has been used as an education centre for part-aboriginal children from 1932-42; wartime army base during World War 2; and an aboriginal reserve from 1945-1963.</p> <p>The barracks, post and telegraph office, Morse code machines, station master’s residence and kitchen, and outbuildings such as the harness, buggy shed, battery room, and shoeing yard were fascinating.</p> <p>I enjoyed reading about the camel trains that carted supplies from the railhead at Oodnadatta to Alice Springs before the railway was completed in 1929. The trip took two weeks, each camel carrying 250kg. Caravans of 50 camels were a regular occurrence delivering supplies to the station. What an awesome sight that would have been.</p> <p>There’s still a registered, operational post office at the station and all mail posted in the original red postbox is stamped with the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Commemorative Franking Stamp.</p> <p>Back on The Ghan, my brain and senses were so over-stimulated by the events and sights of the day, I expected to have trouble getting to sleep that night but the rocking motion of the train lulled me to slumber-land in no time. No doubt the chocolate fudge on my pillow from Aaron helped too. We had another early start the following day for our Coober Pedy excursions so I needed the rest.</p> <p>To be continued . . </p> <p><em>FACTBOX:</em></p> <p><em>* The Ghan Expedition is a 2979km four-day, three-night train journey through the ‘Red Centre’ of Australia from Darwin to Adelaide.</em></p> <p><em>Justine travelled courtesy of international rail specialists Rail Plus and Great Southern Rail.</em></p> <p><em>* Visit <a href="https://www.railplus.co.nz/australia-by-rail/australias-great-train-journeys/the-ghan-expedition/ghan-expedition-prices-book.htm">Rail Plus</a> for more information on The Ghan and <span><a href="https://www.railplus.co.nz/great-train-journeys/">https://www.railplus.co.nz/great-train-journeys/</a></span>  for other epic train adventures around the world.</em></p> <p><em>*A veteran of many rail journeys organised through Rail Plus, I’ve also travelled on the Indian Pacific (see my series of four stories here); and the <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/domestic-travel/a-day-on-the-tranzalpine">TranzAlpine</a>.<span></span></em></p> <p><em>Rail Plus has a dedicated team of experts to advise you on Great Train Journeys all around the world including the <a href="https://www.railplus.co.nz/great-train-journeys/belmond-andean-explorer-peru/prices-info.htm">Belmond Andean Explorer</a> in Peru </em><em>another epic train journey that’s on my to-do list. The trip traverses some of the most magnificent scenery in the world - from Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire; crossing the highest plains of the Andes; to the reflective beauty of Lake Titicaca; the vast Colca Canyon and the city centre of Arequipa, a UNESCO World Heritage site. </em></p>

International Travel

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Can you spot the snake hidden on this deck?

<p>Australia is a lucky country. We have beautiful landscapes, a laid-back culture, incredible cities and some of the best beaches in the world. So, what’s the trade off for living Down Under? We have to deal with the odd snake from time to time.</p> <p>A family from Buderim, Queensland, found this out first-hand over the weekend, when they discovered a python which had cleverly hidden itself on their back deck.</p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SunshineCoastSnakeCatchers/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers</strong></em></span></a> were called out to the property and tasked with the job of removing the serpent, but once they arrived they had a little trouble finding it, posting the below photo. Can you spot the cleverly hidden python?</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSunshineCoastSnakeCatchers%2Fphotos%2Fa.1484959141755876.1073741830.1483562515228872%2F1949230368662082%2F%3Ftype%3D3&amp;width=500" width="500" height="541" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></p> <p>If you can’t, don’t worry. You’re not the only one! We’ve highlighted where this deceptively clever serpent has hidden itself, scroll through the gallery above to see where.</p> <p>'This little coastal carpet python couldn't have been more than a week old,' Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers posted on Facebook.</p> <p>'The little guy decided that curling up in the very corner of the outdoor lounge would be a safe place to laze away the day.'</p> <p>Have you ever had an encounter with a snake? Let us know in the comments.</p> <p><em>Hero image credit: Facebook / Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers  </em></p>

News

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Brave chihuahua sacrifices own life to save owner

<p>If ever you needed a reason to convince your partner to let you adopt a dog, let this be it. A brave 10-year-old chihuahua named Cooper has sacrificed his own life to save his family after discovering a deadly eastern brown snake in the backyard.</p> <p>Evangeline Lim from the Gold Coast was about to hang her washing out on the line last week when she heard her loyal pooch barking at something in the backyard – one of Australia’s most venomous snakes.</p> <p>“The snake was upside down and Cooper was on top of it and wrestling,” the Hope Island woman told the <em>Gold Coast Bulletin</em>. “He was obviously saving me from the snake.”</p> <p>With Cooper’s help, Evangeline and her family managed to trap the snake under a pot plant. Unfortunately, the courageous canine had been bitten in the process, and he sadly died 10 minutes later after suffering cardiac arrest while in the car en route to the vet.</p> <p>According to Tony Harrison from Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catchers, eastern browns are more common in the Gold Coast area than you might think. “I catch a couple a day so people need to be more aware,” he told <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/cooper-the-chihuahua-praised-for-brave-final-act-to-protect-family/news-story/3bcd1ce3af1503feee4f7f6f0e978c74" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">news.com.au</span></strong></a>.</p> <p>He explained that the deadly species are quick to defend themselves as soon as they feel threatened, which is likely the reason why it began wrestling with Cooper.</p> <p>“As soon as a dog interacts with a snake you should be hightailing it to the vet. I’ve seen plenty of dogs and cats attacked by brown snakes over the years and many of them don’t last 10 minutes,” he said.</p> <p>Harrison says the venom from an eastern brown snake can quickly cause blood clots and muscle seizures in both animals and humans. “It’s not a nice thing at all. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, let alone a little chihuahua.”</p> <p>Have any of your pets ever been in danger of a snake at your home? Share your story with us in the comments below. </p>

Family & Pets