this old codger and maybe it was better he did get
away before I got bit! Still, I had my jolt of adrenalin
for the morning and I joined the others who were
working their way down the thick, bushy slope, as
rabbits shot out of our way.
Suddenly Sapiano called out, “Here, come on over
here!”
He was frozen to the
spot and gestured to a
thick clump of grass
near his leg. “Check
out the copperhead -
first wild one you guys
have seen, I hope.”
Ye s it was our first, and a real beauty it was. Its
shiny scales reflected the early sunlight as it calmly
watched us; tongue starting to flick to try to figure us
out. We spent the next ten minutes photographing
this lovely snake which remained calm and
confident throughout. We walked on, pushing
through the bushes, and suddenly startled a couple
of Swamp Wallabies that bounded out of our way in
a hurry. We’d already gotten used to the big,
flamboyant, squawking cockatoos in the eucalyptus
trees.
It wasn’t long before Elliott shouted, “Tiger!”
We rushed over to where he was pointing at the
dark, banded snake hiding its head in the grass.
The whole black, gleaming length of its body lay
exposed. We all chuckled, observing that it was a
pretty dumb thing for a snake to do! No matter
where in the world you are, you find some snake
that does this. Elliott gently pulled him out into the
open for some pictures.
Although I was
confident of his snake
handling skills, we
Indians aren't used to
tailing snakes like you
Aussies do. The Tiger
Snake spread its neck
in the classic elapid
defensive pose, some-
thing very familiar to us folks from the land of the
cobra. It then waited very obligingly for its portrait to
be taken before slipping silently away. We were
getting parched by then and headed back to the car
through an old dry stream bed dotted with tufts of
grass.
Both Adams said it was the driest they’d ever seen
this swamp. A large Eastern Grey Kangaroo
watched us suspiciously from the other side of the
slope. Just then we all spotted another copperhead
lying in the same fashion as the tiger – stretched out
full length in the sun but with its head buried in the
grass. Near it was another copperhead the same
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