I was sitting on the loo with the door open onto our yard,
And I heard a sound my instinct immediately clocked as a snake.
A rustle of a long body that slithers.
I was nonchalant and said to myself, I will check that out in a minute.
I looked out the loo door and saw a little head coming my way.
A beautiful shiny black snake with red belly patterns sweeping up the sides of her body. I didn't have a minute, the situation was upon me right now!
I yelped, yipped and called out to Riley to stay inside because if he left the house to rescue me he would stand on the snake visiting at my back door.
Fast as lightning, She darted away upset by the sounds and disappeared into a drainage hole in our rock wall near the fish pond.
Cinnamon our cockatiel had been meeping a funny little meep sound, and our Cosie cat had been vigilant on the window sills. That was yesterday and we assumed that She had passed on her way.
Today Riley spent a lot of time in the sun on his trampoline and he heard the chickens bruuking in an unusual tone. She was back in the warmth of the day, poking her head out the same hole. Disappearing when Riley moved.
It seemed to me that She needed to be moved onto a new home and we contacted Steve from Reptile World. Apparently we have built a snake palace, a rock wall with holes and a water source with edibles in it!
The chickens are not in danger, the cockatiel and cat whilst inside are not in danger. We are not in danger because she will get away from us. She however is in a lot of danger Steve tells me; if we were to step out of our door and onto her we could break her back and squash her organs.
Apparently he's getting lots of calls like ours because people are seeing the animals in their yards whilst not at work. Animals that have been there quietly all along!
I have a history with Steve and the red belly blacks at his Display at Reptile World. When I first saw them I knew the physiology of fear and trauma in my body as I was panicked. I grew up on a farm and red belly black snakes got their heads chopped of with shovels. And so I was very afraid of them. I sat with Steve whilst in an activated state and told him this and he quietly talked to me about how he sees these beautiful animals. And it's been different ever since.
I am super grateful to him for his love and passion for Reptiles and the transformation of how I see snakes in my close home zone.