Snake on the Sill!!

[Occams Barber]

UPDATE

It's just after 6.00pm on 8 July, pitch black with heavy cloud cover stopping it from getting too cold.

Monty (the) Python is curled up on his window ledge after a long challenging day.

His athleticism is amazing. I saw him hanging 6-7 feet of his body by a foot of his tail while weaving around checking out the area below the window. He was then able to U turn his whole body and lift his head back to the window ledge. I'm not sure if he was looking for a way down or trying to take advantage of any residual heat locked in the brick wall.

He spent a few hours slowly cruising his perch and climbing around, over and through the aluminium louvres covering the window. At one stage he even climbed a little way up the insect screen. I'm sure he could get away if he needed to. It appears that, for the moment, the ledge is the best option.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

OB

 

[Bob Crowley]

With a bit of luck you'll find him curled up on your pillow in the morning.

 

[Chesterton]

I haven't seen it for a while at my local (Woolworths) supermarket but it looks like it's still on the shelf at Coles. At $52 a kilo it's a bit expensive.

At $20 a kilo, kangaroo steak is much better value.

Roo steak. I had no idea. Well if you live amongst that many dangerous animals down there it's probably wise to eat as many of them as you can.

 

[durangodawood]

Wow. Beautiful snake!

 

[Occams Barber]

Roo steak. I had no idea. Well if you live amongst that many dangerous animals down there it's probably wise to eat as many of them as you can.

LOL. Fortunately kangaroos aren't dangerous. If they were we'd all be dead since there are around 50 million roos and only 25 million humans in Australia. Kangaroo steak or mince or sausages ('Kanga Bangers') are available in supermarkets although I'm not sure how popular they are. The meat is low in fat/cholestorol but it can be a bit gamey. Kangaroos aren't farmed and are generally protected. The meat is supplied by shooters licensed to kill wild kangaroos to cull kangaroo numbers.

While croc meat is around, it's not always available. Crocs live in the tropical far north of the country and are protected so croc meat supplies are limited. There is some croc farming for meat and skins.

The other exotic meat I've seen in the past is emu. I haven't seen it around for a while. When it was available it came from emu farms. Emus are protected in the wild.

OB

 

[Occams Barber]

With a bit of luck you'll find him curled up on your pillow in the morning.

Fortunately I missed your post last night so I slept peacefully without visions of snakes invading the bed.

 

[Occams Barber]

UPDATE: 9 July, around 8.00am

He's still there.

Found Monty curled up with eyes wide open staring into the room. He's looking a bit bored this morning.

Looks like we had a bit of light rain in the night but the window ledge is protected by the aluminium sun shade so it generally stays dry unless the rain is really heavy or wind driven.

Cloud cover is breaking up so were getting patches of bright sunlight. Temperature is in the mid 50s. If the sun breaks through long enough it might warm things up and convince him to leave the perch and go exploring in the garden.

OB

 

[Chesterton]

LOL. Fortunately kangaroos aren't dangerous. If they were we'd all be dead since there are around 50 million roos and only 25 million humans in Australia. Kangaroo steak or mince or sausages ('Kanga Bangers') are available in supermarkets although I'm not sure how popular they are. The meat is low in fat/cholestorol but it can be a bit gamey. Kangaroos aren't farmed and are generally protected. The meat is supplied by shooters licensed to kill wild kangaroos to cull kangaroo numbers.

You can't tell me kangaroos aren't dangerous, I've got YouTube!

While croc meat is around, it's not always available. Crocs live in the tropical far north of the country and are protected so croc meat supplies are limited. There is some croc farming for meat and skins.

The other exotic meat I've seen in the past is emu. I haven't seen it around for a while. When it was available it came from emu farms. Emus are protected in the wild.

Exotic meats I've tried are gator, rattlesnake, goat, and cow tongue. None of those are readily available except in certain regions. The average person would consider them novelties, but pretty much anything is available if you want to look around for it. Some people here eat bull and bison testicles. I guess whatever floats your boat. Personally, I'm going to postpone trying bull testicles until I somehow find myself near death from starvation.

 

[Occams Barber]

You can't tell me kangaroos aren't dangerous, I've got YouTube!

Here's a photo of a big male grey kangaroo about to rip a toddler to shreds.

Some people here eat bull and bison testicles. I guess whatever floats your boat. Personally, I'm going to postpone trying bull testicles until I somehow find myself near death from starvation.

There are so many comments I could make... but none of them would be suitable for CF.

OB

 

[Paidiske]

No - fortunately we don't have crocs. The croc meat I was buying was from Woolworths supermarket. The ad for croc meat I posted was from Coles online. I assumed that croc meat is/was available at all (or most) Woolies/Coles supermarkets across the country.

I've never seen croc meat in Melbourne, that I can recall. It does not appear to be available for online order locally.

A big male kangaroo might be aggressive, under some circumstances, but in general kangaroos truly aren't dangerous at all. Koalas, on the other hand...

 

[Occams Barber]

Hi Paidiske

I've never seen croc meat in Melbourne, that I can recall. It does not appear to be available for online order locally.

Thanks. Maybe it's a regional thing. Do your supermarkets stock kangaroo steak/mince/sausages?

A big male kangaroo might be aggressive, under some circumstances, but in general kangaroos truly aren't dangerous at all. Koalas, on the other hand...

and watch out for emus stealing your sandwiches.

OB

 

[Paidiske]

Oh, emus are scary fierce when they get going!

Kangaroo meat locally, yes. I don't know whether they sell a lot of it, but there must be a reasonable market or it wouldn't be stocked, I suppose.

 

[Occams Barber]

UPDATE: 9 July, around 4.00pm

Monty (the) Python is still in residence on the window ledge. When the sun broke through this morning he spent a couple of hours uncoiling and gradually stretching along a louvre running the width of the window. He stayed in that position, more or less motionless, for a couple of hours. I think he was picking up a little heat from sunlight warming the metal of the louvre.

He eventually slid back to the window ledge and went into a tight coil. He hasn't moved since.

That's it. The clouds are back so, while the sunlight is thin now, it won't be too cold (mid 50s) overnight.

I texted my youngest son to tell him I'd adopted a python. He wrote back to tell me he was excited since he'd always wanted a little brother.

Madness runs in the family.

OB

 

[Occams Barber]

UPDATE: July 10 at 6.40pm.

My serpentine boarder is still with me.

Today has been a very quiet day. Little movement although he has been staring intently through the window into the room as if he expects something... Discovered that snake coils can be very neat or the snake equivalent of a bunch of knots.

(Question to self: do snakes ever tie themselves in knots they can't undo?)

Weather is all drizzly rain and temps in the high 50s. Hibernation weather.

How do you communicate with a deaf snake with poor vision?

OB

 

[Paidiske]

One is tempted to suggest it might have a strong sense of smell...

The next question is, what do you wish to communicate, and what smell might get that message across?

 

[Bob Crowley]

You can't do much about his deafness. Even a cochlear implant won't help as he hasn't got the necessary neurone hearing pathways. Or ears, so hearing aids are out.

But you can take him to your local optometrist and get him a good pair of specs.

Then you learn sign language.

For an employment opportunity, take him to your nearest Navy or Coast Guard office and use him to show the staff how to neatly coil ropes. You've probably got a Coast Guard office in Coffs Harbour.

I think this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That's why he's staring through your window. He's waiting for you to make the next move.

That, or he thinks it would be a lot more comfortable inside that outside. I know you're an atheist but as a gesture of Christian goodwill, why not open the window? "Behold, I stare through the window glass and flicker my tongue. If anyone opens the window, I will come in and sup with him and he with me."

 

[Occams Barber]

One is tempted to suggest it might have a strong sense of smell...

The next question is, what do you wish to communicate, and what smell might get that message across?

I think you might have hit on a means to converse with the critter. There was a system developed back in the 1950s called "Smell-O-Vision (I kid you not ). The idea was to release relevant odours during a screening to enhance the audience's sensual experience. It featured developments like 'ODORAMA and AROMASCOPE' for Wide Screen Smell-O-Vision.


If it's still around maybe I could adapt it for simple conversations - a bit like Washoe the chimp who learned simple sign language. The possibilities here are HUGE.

What would I wish to communicate? I'll need sit down and list all the things we might have in common.............................mmm................could be a short list

OB

 

[Paidiske]

I was wondering if there was a smell that the snake would take as a threat, and thus retreat. Dog-smell, perhaps?

 

[Occams Barber]

I was wondering if there was a smell that the snake would take as a threat, and thus retreat. Dog-smell, perhaps?

I have read that snakes hate ammonia although this might be a bit of snake mythology. If it were true I could use it in a bit of 'stick & carrot' type operational conditioning - I just need a 'carrot' and something I could cajole the snake to do (they don't seem to do much ).

BTW: If it's true that snakes hate ammonia, it would seem that the best reaction, when confronted with an angry snake, is to pee yourself.

OB (it's still there on the window ledge)

 

[Paidiske]

Google says you're right about the ammonia.

I don't know about the carrot, though. Mouse? That could go wrong in so many ways...

Thank you for the thread, by the way. It's a bit of pleasant light-hearted entertainment now that Melbourne is back in stage 3 pandemic shut down.