Aaahhh! Snakes everywhere...

Part 1...

That's right! We are back once more from camping, having experience the wildlife in more definite close quarters!!

We love going camping. We really do. It is a great experience for the kids to get outside and explore. But this trip... I have to say has opened their eyes to the wildlife around them. Mostly the snakes. *shudder!*

We only had to drive about 30 minutes from our house, to get to our campsite. A beautiful scenic trip to our local hinterland. We drove into our designated campsite and were immediately approached by the campers next door.

Now we know that some people can be friendly but coming to greet your new neighbour before we even got out of the car seemed a bit odd. Even to us! However, all was revealed when after he introduced himself gave us this warning...

"Just wanted to let you know that we've seen three Brown snakes go through your campsite today. One was about 3m long but the others were just babies. Only about a metre and a half long." (What the ?...) "Just wanted to let you know because it looks like you got little kids running around." *deep breath!* Oh boy!!!!

We thanked him for his warning and rounded up the kids to let them know. I'm really not sure if it sunk in for them, how dangerous these snakes are. They soon found out what snakes can do.

After a nervous night with a torch firmly facing the ground everywhere we went in the dark, we started to relax... until the next morning.

We were sitting outside our camper eating breakfast when I looked up after seeing from the corner of my eye, something fall from the trees surrounding our site. I really didn't think anything of it...at that point...until our new neighbour calls out.

"Hey guys! Come and have a look at this!"

At this point I am going to insert a warning. A python had fallen from the trees with it's prey. A poor unsuspecting possum was about to be consumed by a hungry snake. Please skip this photo if you do not want to see. (Sorry - but I also know there are people interested and this is the natural order of things in the bush.)

This unfortunately is not the end of this snake story. The possum had a baby. It had been thrown from the pouch when they fell from the tree. Nobody saw it, because we were all entranced by the snake, except Jaden. One of the kids in our group. Liz, Jaden's mum, rescued the poor little thing and managed to find a wildlife rescuer in the local area who could save it. Yay! And "Lucky" does have a fantastic chance at survival now.

I believe this experience was a good thing for the kids to see. It really brought home the danger and awareness of snakes in our area.

(Ethan with the snake in background).

After all this, we waited for some friends to arrive before going down to the creek for a relaxing cool down.

It wasn't too long before we saw another snake that was too close for comfort. We were all having fun and sitting in the shade of the trees. The problem was, the wildlife *aka snakes!* were seeking shelter too! While taking photos and watching the kids in the water, we were blissfully unaware of the smallish tree python climbing the tree our friend Cindy was resting against. Mark gently let her know it was there but it wasn't until she saw my face, that Cindy registered that our prankster, was NOT joking!! I think we all left the creek and went back to our campsite after that! LOL!!

Please stay tuned... Part 2 tomorrow.