Springtime in Canberrra: snakes

As with all temperate locations, the best thing about the arrival of spring in Canberra is the longer, warmer days, accompanied by the rapid growth of herbs and grasses, the greening of skeletal deciduous trees, and the flowering of ornamental plants in gardens, and wildflowers in the bush. It’s a time of biological renewal and the city takes on a different, but delightful complexion.

Migrating birds pass through or return to breed, insects hatch and multiply, and reptiles wake up from their winter hibernation –  and therein lies one of Canberra’s springy problems: snakes!

I own three dogs. The 16-year-old kelpie has a dodgy ticker so his daily walk is short, around the lake edge to the dam and back, a ‘sniff and pee’ walk of about 600 metres. However, the two girls – a border collie and a blue heeler (aka blue cattle dog) – have longer walks, past the dam, down the creek, beside the nature reserve, to an aromatic sewerage stink pipe, a round walk of about 3 km.

In spring, the  faint track beside the creek disappears in the  long grass, providing excellent cover for slithering snakes – I often hear them before I see them! Yesterday, I saw my third brown snake – deadly to man and beast – in the past 2 weeks so have stopped walking there until the grass is cut.

Last spring, I also saw a tiger snake – also deadly to man and beast – and many red-bellied blacks – a bit deadly to m & b! I also had a brown snake in my front yard last summer, which was a little worrying, more so for the dogs than for moi.

But Canberra is not alone in having snakes. Across Australia, there are some 140 land snakes, and a further 32 sea snakes inhabit our coastal waters. I saw many snakes on my trip, as the following excerpts explain. One was in Queensland’s Lamington National Park:

‘I passed several more falls with tongue-twisting names – Minjayla, Joolbahla, Gwahlahla, Alcheringa – before climbing out of the valley to the New South Wales–Queensland border at Echo Point, on the McPherson Range escarpment.

I rock hopped towards the lookout and was in midstride between two boulders when I saw a large snake on the sunny side of my destination rock, just one hop away. My brain said ‘python not venomous’, but I stopped dead anyway. The black and brown mottled reptile wasn’t leaving its warm spot – it just stared at me, motionless.

I had lunch, keeping a watchful eye on Monty, both of us enjoying our respective pleasures. Fertile river valleys, forest-clad ranges and conical-shaped mountains stretched away to the misty horizon of the Tweed Range, a nice contrast to the closed rainforest.’

I came across another snake in Cape Range National Park on the west coast.

‘The road neared a small range of rocky red hills, the proximity revealing their composition – dissected rocks, narrow gorges and dry gullies fracturing into a bewildering array of fissures, cracks and boulders. I was so intent on the view I nearly squashed a beautiful snake. The 2 m black-headed python was slithering across the road; behind its shiny head, dark bands crossed an olive-green body. I stopped an approaching car, the passengers as thrilled as I was to see this magnificent reptile.’

Tasmania has only three species of land snakes; I was lucky to see one in Mount Field National Park.

‘A light breeze had dissipated the mist, now a perfect day for the five-hour, 13 km Tarn Shelf Circuit. Greg Buckman had bemoaned the lack of onsite brochure holders. I agreed, as I followed a faded sign saying Lake Circuit via Pandani Grove, skirting the lake’s rippling waters, passing pandanus trees 6 to 8 m high with spiky green crowns sitting atop narrow brown skirts of tightly compacted fronds. King Billy and pencil pines hemmed the track; a slim grey snake, about 65 cm long, slithered past. Tassie only has three snakes: copperhead, tiger and white-lipped. The first two are highly venomous; it looked like the latter.’

 

Meanwhile, on the book front, the pre-printing formatting has had a few hiccups but is now back on track. I’m hoping both the e-book and print versions will be published by the end of November.

Happy  travelling