A date with Mr Snake - The story

Australia is famous for its wildlife.

Well, I was not aware that wildlife is inhabitants of one’s front yards and back yards. So far I have come across wild birds, lorikeets, parrots, crows, pigeons, mongoose, Iguanas, bush turkeys and Snakes.

I still remember the day when the snake visited our garden in Brisbane.

As usual I was engrossed in my laptop and my friend was on her phone. She then spotted something near the letter box.

It was green, slender and slimy looking stuff crawling in and out of the letter box, over the fence and into the bush. At its very sight, she happened to go through a nervous breakdown, my friends came rushing down from their rooms and were mesmerized by its looks and hoped to witness a long hunting scenario.

It seemed to enjoy our garden. Well I guess it certainly was the baby iguana which was more interesting for the snake. We did witness the iguana running for its life. It had nowhere to go. It was helpless. That little Iguana could vanish like a flash of light. It takes less than a second to jump yards and makes it difficult for the enemy to hunt its prey.

Well when the snake was trying to concentrate on its prey, the iguana trying to save its life from the beast, my friend petrified at the sight of the snake, and other friends trying to guess the next move of the snake, closely observing what might happen, I was running up to my room.

The only thought that was running in my mind, was the incident in Bannergatta Zoo in 2007, when I had been there on a college trip.I know it sounds tacky – college trip to Bannergatta Zoo… Well we had been there to study the encroachment of elephants into the Bannergatta National Park. That indeed was another amazing trip to cherish. All I remember is trekked kilometers to study elephant poo as it would help us understand the elephant’s moves in the forest better.

I remember at the Zoo, I happened to witness the most fascinating wildlife encounter. There was this huge python which was resting, as if it has given up its worldly pleasures, nothing to do, no hunting, no searching or even crawling for miles together in search of prey. All one has to do is enjoy years of non – privacy in a cage, with people gaping at its morphology, some amazed at its length, others petrified by its size and the very thought of what would be the consequences if he or she was having a rendezvous with the python, and few others could not stand the stench.

But there was a huge crowd gathered because it was lunch time for our dearest python. Well there was no exotic luncheon, no tandoori chicken or mutton biryani, It was three beautiful, small, cute little white rabbits. Trust me I could not gulp my salvia through my throat. I was so petrified and nearly sweating to death. I had never seen such a thing LIVE in my entire existence on planet earth.

The rabbits had no idea what would happen. I am going through a trailer of nervous breakdown as I pen down this incident, as it brings shivers across my soul. They were innocent looking animals hopping around to glory unaware of what would be their future. Remember that these rabbits are bred in the zoo and they have never encountered pythons, hence they don’t really know that pythons can eat them raw.

The python was resting, no movements at all. It was probably refreshing its hunting skills. The rabbits were hopping over the python, and it was still motionless. The rabbits had a few grass to munch before they stepped into the gallows. It was more like last wish or the last luncheon. Well then it moved. All it took was a flash of a second to grab the rabbit by its tail end and wrap itself around the rabbit so hard and tightly that the rabbit’s soul would leave its body. The cage was filled with the sound of the syllable “aw”. Everyone was astonished; I could feel my eyes getting wet. It was such an emotional drama enfolding in front of me. All through the while, I was holding my friend’s hand and she too felt the same as I did. Well moving ahead from the explanations of emotional trauma, the python then opened its mouth and grabbed the rabbit, we could see the rabbit move across the python’s mouth into its skin, it was a painful moment. The workers happened to tell us that they python was fed every 15 days with 3 rabbits and they were kept alive in order to prevent the loss of its ability to hunt its prey.

Well, this was the scenario running through my mind. I was expecting something similar with the tree snake and the iguana. So I was going to my room, do you expect me to be petrified? Was the old incident making me feel pukish? Was I undergoing a nervous breakdown too? Was I about to crash into my bed and cry to glory? Well I shall stop with the questions. I was there to grab my camera so that I could take pictures. Brisbane had taught me to be brave. I was not scared any more. And here are the pictures for you to enjoy.

What happened to the Iguana? It is a happy ending story my dear friends. The Iguana escaped and the tree snake went off in search of other prey.