"Fifteen years ago, while perched on the back deck of my 1920s tin and timber Queenslander home in Brisbane, I realised I was being watched. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and I spun around to discover a snake dangling from the lattice. Terrified, I rushed inside and locked the door. Clearly, fear is not rational, or I would have understood that serpents don't have arms. I adore lizards."
"I've visited Indonesia's komodo dragons and cuddled shinglebacks in Australia's red centre but I have always been more scared than seduced by snakes. When I was growing up in country Queensland in the 1970s, we often encountered venomous snakes our tiny town even had a Black Snake Creek. Running around our back yard it was common to almost trip over a deadly king brown."
Fifteen years ago a snake dangled from the lattice of a back deck, prompting immediate terror and a retreat indoors. Fear proved visceral despite knowledge that snakes lack arms. The narrator adores lizards yet remains more afraid than fascinated by snakes. Childhood in country Queensland during the 1970s brought frequent encounters with venomous species, including king browns, and parental rules to freeze and alert adults. A father routinely captured and relocated snakes. Carpet pythons help control bush rats and deter possums. Years later a deliberately wild backyard attracted eastern carpet pythons.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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