Python in the Mango Tree

We have a mango tree just outside our bedroom window which makes it feel as if you are amongst the trees and keeps the room cool in summer. One afternoon at the end of my nana nap I heard a small bird carrying on…….and on and on. After what felt like ages I got up out of bed to investigate this very annoying chatter. Oh right, a carpet snake climbing up the branches probably heading for the birds’ (there were two of them) nest. Photo opportunity!

I grab my camera from cupboard, glasses from case, shove on shoes and hat and am out the back door to capture said snake on film, actually on chip…or whatever is in a digital. After approaching the tree carefully I begin my search. The tree is slightly different from the ground obviously but for the life of me I cannot find the snake. I am under the canopy, wandering, looking but no snake. The birds meanwhile have scarpered.

I was just about to give up on my search for the python when there was a “thud” in the low hanging branches in front of me. OH *%$#@*&! The ruddy great bugger was in front of me at chest height lying perfectly still. I managed to leap back without landing on my behind (a surprise in itself) and be clear of him/her. I think it was warning me it was there, amazing really. Anyhoo, it began climbing the tree then. I was sure it should have been higher of the ground.

Photos managed, I left it to its evil plan. I am not frightened of snakes at a safe distance but this was within arm’s length and not where I intended to be. Don’t you love the country? Always something happening.

Crocodile in the Pool

Do you like the look of Colin? We brought him back from Australia Zoo with us and now he patrols our swimming pool, silently, stealthily, floating with the current, those beady eyes ever watching. And best of all he has not orifices so he has no excrement, he makes no noise and needs no food. Some geese I know could learn something from his example.

Lunchbox Environmental Fee

I have plastic, re-usable lunch boxes for my teens’ school lunches with paper lunch wrap and re-usable ice bricks for sandwiches needing to stay cool. All very environmentally friendly. (We had to make our own lunches for school when I was growing up from about the age of 10 but I know what kind of lunches I made so I make my offspring’s lunches for diet balance and health reasons - control freak?). Unfortunately these plastic lunchboxes often did not make it back to the kitchen for cleaning and storing for the next lunch time. They probably festered in the school bags or amongst the detritus that is their bedroom floors. It got to the point where I was having to use disposable plastic bags and was complaining about their complacency on the matter. Deaf ears!

The Lovely Husband and I have realised over the years that the way to get through to our adolescents is through their finances. That is where it hurts the most.

I threatened that unless I saw those lunchboxes in the plastics cupboard when I make their lunches in the mornings I would charge them an environmental fee. Still no action. OK, the next time I made their lunches and had to bag them instead of box them I wrote on the plastic bags “Environmental Fee $1”. When the offspring came to collect their lunches to pack there were moans and grumbles and those teenage glares but within half an hour I had three of the four lunchboxes in the kitchen sink for cleaning. The lunch boxes have miraculously turned up every day in the plastics cupboard ever since but I still have those dreaded plastic bags and permanent marker ready for action should I need them. Save the earth I say!

My Computer is Fixed....at last!

Our internet went down. I tried everything to restore it. I know enough to be dangerous but was at a total loss this time. Poopanola! The tower has been in the 'puter shop for a week - with the router - and we all felt as if our throats had been cut. Our link to the outside world is back, it functions and I can once again fulfill my driving need to waffle on my blog. I have some posts on memory stick typed on that* laptop ready for cutting and pasting. I am normally sporadic with my posting anyway because I have to wait for a period of time when my fatigue is not too bad. Concentrating on a screen is a real bugger for the ol' brain injury induced fatigue. So look out, a run of incredibly fascinating and mind blowing waffle is soon to be thrust upon you.

* The Young Negotiator's laptop. It has no DELETE button. Hmmph!

Amazing!

Our two African Lovebirds, Splice and Crepsley escaped recently when their cage went tumbling down the veranda steps. I was devastated. They flew in different directions and so were out in the wild separated as well. I could hear one of them in a nearby but very large tree. I left the cage outside with the door open hoping they would return but of course the cage crashing had been terrifying for them. That night we had the mother of all storms complete with torrential rain, thunder and lightening. My feelings of guilt and worry were now quite high. The next morning was overcast and rainy. Ever the optimist, I left the cage out, but the chances of them returning were extremely slim. When I returned from work at about 12.30pm here was my lovely Splice sitting in her cage. I was so excited! Poor thing was exhausted, hungry and had a scratch on her head. She ate and slept a lot but has bounced back remarkably well. Tough birds these. Unfortunately I think Crepsley is not returning so I will buy our girl another mate. She is pleased to be home with us but is probably missing having another bird for company. African lovebirds are aptly named.

I still can't believe she came back. She is not tame or affectionate with us but is relaxed with people. I guess it is all she has known.

Aussie Animals

The few decent photos I have from Australia Zoo. We did not bother going to the koala enclosure as we see them in the wild at home.

We have a perenti here, a very large Australian lizard. They will eat chicken eggs, chicks and small mammals. I think they mostly eat carrion though.

An Eastern grey kangaroo. They are fairly common and we have even seen them around here although that is not usual.

A brush turkey. They build enormous nesting mounds of dirt and leaves in the rainforest to incubate their eggs. They are also a nuisance in the camping grounds that occupy their habitat. They rummage through your garbage and plates looking for scraps.

The crocodile. We have saltwater and freshwater crocs, or as the Aussie's call them salties and freshies. This one is a saltie I think, the more deadly of the two.

I took more photos but they were not great. I think I will do another photography coarse.

Geese-a-Growin'

These are my babies before we went away. They grow so fast. I will get another photo soon because they are practically adults now. I have to offload some soon. I want to keep about two of the same sex in the yard. We have been letting them out into the paddocks every morning and back in at night and it shocks me how far they range. Apparently they are making a nuisance of themselves with my neighbours sometimes.

Bruce, the big daddy, is still taking his role quite seriously. When I give them their grain in the evenings he will not wait like the other geese and because I am bending over to pour the grain into their dish he is way to close to my face. Bruce has had his face slapped a couple of times and told to Back Off Man! He attacks the bag of grain instead now. Not a terribly bright fellow is our Brucey.