I'd still be running!

Good Morning Kerry. I think I would be skidding in my own ... if I came across that monster. But what a gorgeous setting for him to pose in.

Will take this chance too, to say how much we all enjoyed meeting you :-)

Hmmmm.....very interesting. Seems to be very comfortable in your garden. Is it a permanent resident in your garden?
Quite hazardous though if you are working and having it around.

Kerry,
I recall reading about another similar incident a very long time ago.
If offered an apple, say 'no thank you',and move on.
Bob ; )

Bob,
What if it offered a really nice brom?? Then what?

Beautiful snake! Is it a carpet python?

What kind is that, Kerry? Venomous or not, I think my heart would skip a beat! The only snake we have is this little guy:

Here is a link that might be useful: Hawaiian snake

Terrible but stunning, - does bring to mind the Garden of Eden . Do you think it's attracted to broms ? Have to say, I'm sooo glad we don't have snakes here!

Hi Kerry, beautiful picture of that guy! When once I showed my garden to a visitor, he commented: "Beautiful, but remember, there's allways a snake in Paradise!" So I promptly got this plastic one, so no need for a real one to come and visit!

By the way, what is that glowing red brom just below it's head?

Japie
{{gwi:507268}}

Hi all,
Ha ha! I have enjoyed reading your humorous responses to my garden 'pet'.
Yes, Mike, it is a carpet python - or also referred to as a 'diamond python', or just 'carpet snake'. And I agree it is beautiful.

If I had realised we would get those types of visitors, I may not have moved here from the city, years ago - but it's amazing what one gets used to - and with knowledge of its lifestyle they are not nearly so scary.

No, Jaga, it is not attracted to the broms. Any live brom dwellers are too small to interest it (although the smaller tree snakes do like hunting for frogs in my tree broms). It always obligingly slithers past and around my broms on its way to the eaves of my house - in fact I was standing on our back verandah when I took that photo. I followed that snake around the house garden, trying to get a good photo - and I used my good old manual SLR film camera without a zoom lens!

Sorry Lisa, but that tiny blind Hawaiian snake looks like an earthworm impersonator - and an undernourished one at that!

This will probably horrify most of you (especially Gonzer and Sutto), but in Winter, during hibernation, our friend takes up residence in the house ceiling, within which it has 2 favourite locations. We would not even know it was there, except
........ready????......its 'wee' drips down on us through the ceiling boards! One spot is in the bathroom above the toilet (!), and the other is in our bedroom, but thankfully it favours my husband's side of the bed(!!!!)

Bob and Albatross - Eve and Steve (Irwin) I am not......so no chance of giving into temptation for me :)

Atmccmn - at least one is always around in the warmer months, but they are docile and not interested in humans. We coexist peacefully, but I do get a fright if I come across one unexpectedly while working in the garden - especially face to face. I scream, then we both go in the opposite direction. But that is not an everyday occurrence, in fact very rare. The birds usually cause such a 'ruckus' when a snake is in the garden, that I am forewarned, and extra careful. It's the lethal brown snakes, tiger browns, and death adders I am more scared of! and no, I don't have any photos of them in my garden, and only sighted a few in the surrounding paddocks over the years. Phew!

Japie, your fake snake looks pretty convincing in your Garden of Eden. I bet you've scared a few unsuspecting visitors with that - ha ha!
The pinky-red brom below the python's head is Neo. 'Morris Henry Hobbs'.

Sutto - also great to meet you and the girls at the sales day. What a fun weekend you must have had together. I also enjoyed my interviewing visits with Grace Goode and Margaret Paterson - remarkable women!

'Nuff from me.

Cheers,
Kerry

Beautiful ! Is that a shot from amazon jungle :-))

Lisa,

I really like that Hawaiian snake - I've never seen anything like it! It's interesting, the wikipedia entry states that it was introduced to Hawaii some time in the 1980s...

Ya learn something new every day.

Hi avane,and all others,
Japie,your plastic snake reminded me of a happening here at home when our kids were still little. When my wife hung clothes outdoors,she put the playpen outside too for our 1 year old to enjoy some sun,and mom could keep an eye on while hanging up the wash. We had a bunch of toys,including a plastic snake in the playpen,and as kids will do for attention,our little one tossed them all out,and then complained. So mom went over to pick them up and return them to the playpen. But the one mom thought was the plastic snake turned out to be the REAL thing!
When I got home from work,my wife told me the story,then asked,"did'nt you hear my scream?...everyone else around here did !" :^)
[actually,I think I did,and I worked about 15 miles away from our home]
Ah,those were the days,
Bob

Hi albatross,
"offered a really nice brom?"....
Now that's not fair !!
Apples I can resist,but.... and I think you already know the answer.
Bob :^)

Treehaus, I've only seen them a couple of times. They do look like worms and you can hold one in the palm of your hand. If it wasn't for the little tongue darting in and out, you'd never recognize it for what it was.

They were here before the 1980s, though. I was introduced to Hawaii sometime in the 70s myself, and they were here then. I read elsewhere that they came here in 1929 from the Philippines.

Kerry, we have a thriving gecko population in our house and I've gotten used to finding gecko droppings everywhere, but python pee from the attic???? Blehhhh..... :-p

That is a beautiful animal, I still have a few pairs of those, I have Queenslands, and the ones we call Jungles.

Lisa, are those geckos the green Day Geckos from Madagascar?

You guys are so lucky to be in the tropics. But Lisa can't be that lucky!?

Here's one of my Madagascar day geckos, he died a couple of years ago, after 13 years of loyal service in one of my terrariums.
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Sander

You asked me that once before, John, and since then I have started seeing a few Gold Dust Day Geckos on the lower part of our property! I first saw one 15 or 20 years ago on a clump of Ae. blanchetiana we brought in from another part of the island, and I was hoping they'd multiply but I guess it was just a lone individual that never found a mate, so I didn't see any more here until just this year.

The ones in the house, though, are all Mourning Geckos or (appropriately enough) House Geckos. There are dozens of them glued to the windows every night, and more inside the house. They keep us entertained chasing each other across the walls, chattering and chirping. I kept hearing this loud thumping noise, and it took me a while to figure out that was when one of them had a big bug in its mouth and was bashing it against the wall to tenderize it!

Aw jeez, my husband just came in while I was writing this and told me about the big centipede he'd seen crawl out from under the scanner last night that he wasn't able to catch. I did NOT need to hear that! We've both been bitten in our sleep and it's no fun!!!

This will be my first picture post ever on any forum so hope it works out.

I had this gate crasher recently "and frightened Miss Muffet away". The largest spider I have ever seen in my garden. Does anyone know what spider this is?

Second try...

I see it on my preview but not after submitting it. Granted I am a computer idiot but I really hope this works.

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Sorry Albatross, I have no idea. It's hard to tell its size. How big is it? And 3rd time proves it with posting your photo :)
Cheers, Kerry

Hi
I'm curious as to what you suspect it's eating?? A snake that size would be way beyond insects lol If it's hanging around all the time obviously it's getting food.
gary

Nice little one there Kerry , maybe its on the hunt for a feral cat . The scrub pythons around here get enormous .
Picture in yesterdays Cairns Post of a bloke who killed one with a golf clup as it was trying to eat his cat . It was 5m or so . Saw one further north way over 6m and the record is 8.5 m .

Albatross is it a Golden Orb? Is the web golden?

Kerry
It was a good 6 inches across. Never seen anything like it. Wish I know how to show a close up of it. It was high up on the tree when I took it. Bet it would be a good appetizer for your phyton.

Sunshine,
Looked up Golden Orb, no did look like it.

Gary, our python eats mostly bush rats, plus bandicoots, and other small marsupials, as well as birds and their eggs, and large green tree frogs, and yes Albatross, probably large spiders as appetisers.
We don't have cats, domestic or feral, here Aroideana - so ours is small compared to way up north?, must be a cat-lover's nightmare...

Cheers, Kerry

Hiya Kery, we met at the recent Brisbane Bromeliad meet, I was with sutto.

I love your python, a friend of mine has just recently found one in their shed, I am heading down this week to take pictures as I love them.

Yep pythons will live inside your roof during the cooler months and come out in the warmer months for water.

Would love one here but I think my pets would be a snack for one and wouldn't appreciate me bringing one into the house, he he he.

This is my first time here so I'm off to see if I can find some more of your gorgeous pictures.

Take care
wee kiwi

Hi Kiwi,
Yes all you girls looked like you were having so much fun on your big brom weekend. Brommad sent me your brom website, and I've only quickly looked at it, but very impressed. I really like what Bromeli'nads wrote about the Paterson visit, and your morning at the Qld extravaganza sales - as well as looking at all those wonderful photos. On ya!
Hope you get some good shots of that python.
Cheers, Kerry