First encounter

In Brisbane I stayed with some friends and on my first evening stepped out onto their veranda and straight into the path of a seven foot snake. Having never encountered a seven foot snake before at such close quarters I was somewhat concerned. But recovering from the shock I intuited that it was not a fast-moving variety of snake, and secondly that it was in fact a Carpet Python (which are non-venemous). I ventured to touch it; cold and clamy is how I would describe it. It reacted very little to my presence as it was obvioulsy keen to investigate the interior of a large planter which was on the veranda. Eventually, it took the whole of itself inside and curled up at the bottom for a good nights sleep. We all peered down in amazement at its fat and silent coils.

What was, perhaps, more alarming is that twenty minutes earlier I had been out on the veranda and had been drawn by a sort of coughing noise to look down into this planter where I beheld a whole family of possums. What had become of them was not at all clear!