Thread: Clean up in isle 2 python spew

Brush turkeys are an awesome landscaping machine, live nature to do the work and just protect the veggie patch with wire net

Back in my younger years I had a couple of (in hindsight at least) hilarious encounters with pythons, and both at Katherine in the NT.
One day when all the tourists were engaged listening to the spiel from one of the Gorge tour guides prior to departing on a cruise up the Katherine Gorge on a tourist boat, I took advantage of the rare free time to grease the coach, so I put on my overalls, grabbed the grease gun and began to crawl under the rear of the coach.
Some movement to my right caught my eye, and I discovered a python coming in from the other side of the coach. We both saw each other at about the same time and both exited at a great rate of knots in opposite directions away from each other. The only real problem was that I had parked fairly close to the side of the river bank (which was about 10 foot high where I was) and in his hurry to escape, the python shot out over the bank and landed in an empty tourist boat moored right alongside my passengers' boat. The screams and shrieks could possibly be heard in Darwin!

That same python, Percy, was a local in the area and known well by all the staff and regulars to the camp-site. Everyone knew where he slept, when he had had a feed and generally kept a fascinated watchful and interested eye on his whereabouts.
In the same camp-site area there was one remaining small (about 3' at the time) Johnstone River crocodile, Charlie, remaining from a batch of about 6 that were hatched nearby, and also watched with interest each day by the locals. Unfortunately Charlie the croc must have been sun baking by the side of the river, fairly sleepy and comfortable just lying, soaking up the sun without a care in the world at just the wrong time.
Percy only ate about once or twice a month and when he did it took a couple of days for the abdominal acids to react to and consume his meal and for the swollen abdomen to resume its normal size.
Charlie had obviously undertaken his lazy sun baking episode on one of those days when Percy was starving hungry and lo and behold Percy was discovered that morning with a half swallowed Charlie hanging out of his mouth, tail swinging wildly from side to side.
Percy persevered and eventually won the day and didn't need another feed for another fortnight. In hindsight we decided that that was probably what had happened to Charlie's brothers and sisters before him.
Regards
Glen

Thank you for sharing it with us
I just wonder how big will be the python poo but then again he may not waste too much........

They don't waste too much Chucaro. All that is expelled is usually hair. There are no bones left. Perfect body disposal units. And some uric acid about the size of golf balls, (think of that white stuff in bird poo and that is uric acid).

In the case of the photo of my snake (his name is Fluffy), if you imagine the biggest dump youve ever had, then that is about the same size as Fluffys poos.

Ive got many stories, but this is one that sticks in my mind at the moment. Back home in NQ I get a callout from a guy telling me there is a Taipan under his dashboard (yeah ok I think, everybody sees a taipan and theyre all six foot long). But since I can't see it, I need to play it safe as a mistake can cause me a trip to the hospital or maybe a permant trip somewhere else. So I don't really want to stick my head under his dash incase it's my last relocation. So I start pulling his dash apart whilst he is looking and explain, that if I do break something, then im not responsible, yeah ok he says panicked. So I spend around 2hrs pulling as muchstuff as I can so I can see ( note: I don't charge for relocations). When I can finally see the car seems to be reptilian free he is relieved and then tells me that he is in a hurry and how long will it be before I put his car back in order. If he was nice about it, I may have done it for him, but I did my job, didn't charge him a brass razoo and am not the local mechanic there was only two in town anyway. So I went home and drank a beer instead, leaving this guy Infuriated. Anyone think I was wrong?

Couldn't you have smoked it out?

Thats actually a pretty good idea V8lan! If I had a smoke machine it would be worth a try.

But you'd still need to look underneath to check.

I have a large mirror now on a stick, but it's still not thorough as it is really dark in there. I have thought about getting one of those eel things with a camera on the end, but the jobs are few and far between to justify that expense. I do it for the respect and love of the animals, so I make nothing from it except good karma.

Make friends with a bee keeper.

Escaped python strangles two children sleeping above Canada pet shop

The two boys, aged five and seven, were found strangled to death in the flat above the shop, which specialises in exotic animals.