Snake Season!

The snake season has arrived in Australia; not a particularly welcome part of the year, but an important date in the antipodean calendar I'm sure. Of course this isn't something I knew off the top of my head, or was made aware of when I moved here, this is an event that just happened to rear its ugly head and reinforce my dislike, of some of the more colourful wildlife here in Perth.

It was a typical afternoon at work, and I was due to take part in an online meeting with colleagues. It was a particularly humid day, clouds were gathering in the sky, and I was in the middle of eating my lunch. I had just taken the last bite of my cheese and Ozemite sandwich, when I heard voices coming from the back of the stockroom. A member of staff had come across a small baby snake. Without her glasses on, she went to pick up what she thought was a cord and was taken aback when it suddenly moved away from her; In her words, it was rather agile and active.

Having never dealt with such a situation before, I was initially unsure about what exactly to do. I began by evacuating the store room and moving staff to the front of the shop. After taking advice, we were told a snake catcher was on the way and to try and keep away from the back of the stockroom. Before we could do that, a member of staff quickly ran to the back and shut the roller door, just in case anyone ventured inside. On her return, she spotted the snake and instantly through a bin on top of it, trapping it inside.

It wasn't long before this rather rugged Aussie snake catcher arrived and went to detain the offending reptile. To be honest, not knowing much about snakes, I assumed it would be pretty harmless, especially being a baby - how wrong was I!

The snake was called a Dugite and is native to Western Australia. It has a greenish body and black head. These snakes are solitary and tend to live alone. This little babies Mother literally threw him or her out as soon as she was able, and boom, it was out on it own. I was expecting there to be more of them, maybe a nest or something, but no. The snake catcher explained that where there is a solitary snake, there will not be another. There may well be one next door, but certainly not in the same building. In a way that was reassuring, but as he stood there with the snake in a bag, I couldn't help thinking, 'when would our new resident move in.' Whether that is true or not, and as one snake leaves, another surely follows, I don't know.

Mr Snake Catcher continued in conversation, detailing the life of this little Dugite and confirming it was only passing through. This is snake season in Australia and endless eggs will be hatching, making them more visible than they otherwise would be. Generally they don't go inside people's homes, but having just hatched, unaware of their environment, it probably made a mistake, ending up in our back room.

.... Now for the chilling part. This seemingly harmless snake is highly venomous and yes, it can kill, even as a baby. That's when it actually hit me - I am in Australia, where the wildlife is so far removed from that in the UK, that I need to be on my guard at all times. These situations can happen from time to time, and I must make myself aware of what is dangerous and what is not. I could have quite easily tried to pick up this little critter and throw it outside, but thankfully I didn't, or this blog post may well have ended very differently.

Since the snake incident at work, I have to admit I have become a bit paranoid, checking for reptiles and spiders wherever I go. Every morning I check under the toilet seat, my shoes, in my knicker draw, and in the laundry room, just to make sure there is nothing lurking in the shadows. I have rarely seen anything nasty since moving here, and as a rule I don't go out of my way to find them.

It reminds me of the time I was living in Australia in 1997. We lived in a new build in the then up-and-coming suburb of Ellenbrook and were there for several months. Every day, numerous times a day, I would head to the kitchen sink, get a drink of water or do the washing up. All perfectly normal, so I thought. It wasn't until we left the house in Mid-Summer Circle, that Darrell told me the plants along the sink, on the window shelf above, were full of red back spiders. My mouth dropped, I couldn't believe he never said a word.

Looking back now, I am glad he didn't. If he had, I would have spent everyday looking for them, avoiding the sink and generally becoming a nervous wreck. If you can't see something, or are not aware it's there, you can generally function normally - give or take the odd mishap. Now, something's just can't be unseen, and although I am familiar with the venomous Dugite, I would have rather not experienced it in the first place.

I suppose my date with a snake, not unlike others I've had in the past, was a warning to be mindful of where I am. In time, I will forget it ever happened, but until then it is just part of the course, living down under. The further I integrate into Australian life, the more used to the extremes I will become. I look forward to the day when snakes and spiders will be like water off a ducks back; until then, I'll keep on learning, adapting and mastering, becoming part of the fabric of society and relishing the challenges that come my way!

This week we have managed to continue decorating the villa. With work commitments top of our agenda, we are having to fit home improvements in when we can. We have more or less finished the front lounge, with the new multicoloured rug, which matches Mollie's hair perfectly, and a few other finishing touches - a homage to the collector still in my heart. The family room now has a new sofa, and I am waiting for the new carpet to arrive tomorrow. This room will be a reflection of the 1960s and 70s, and I am going to try and make it as retro looking as I can, starting with a bright orange feature wall - who knows where it will end!

Despite work taking priority, we did manage to spend a weekend together, which will be the last one for a while. This is a very busy time for me and Darrell, as we continue building our careers in Australia. Moving from the UK was about improving our life together, but it was also about the quality of life we have together. The dark, grey, rainy days in Portsmouth may well be a distant memory, but if we spend all our time working, we will never experience the lifestyle we both crave.

For now, we have renovations to complete, furniture to buy and decorating to do, so it's time to knuckle down and continue to rebuild our life in Perth. We have a hefty mortgage to pay, a cat to look after, a car to buy and bills up to our eyeballs, so that elusive lifestyle will have to wait, just a little bit longer.

As we move from summer into winter, our new villa will come into its own; a sanctuary from the elements outside and a bolthole from the disparaging World around us. We are both happy to be far, far away from Britain and the dark, grey, depressing existence we had before we left, but we are conscious of our roots, even if they are sometimes painful to recall. This is the life we have chosen together, because we no longer have the patience to bother with other people; people who essentially never cared about us. The best way to show the detractors you have moved on, is to build bigger, better and show you are far happier than them - that's exactly what we are doing today!

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