Snakes Alive!

I know it's a cliched heading but we are coming up to snake season and being in a country where 9/10 of the most venomous snakes live, it is a relevant topic. I will be mindful of the faint-hearted and/or those who have ophidiophobia and not include a picture of a snake on this post. Personally, I am not a fan of snakes and earlier this year when I was out riding my bike along the river trail, I did let out a little 'yelp' and swerve to miss a snake crossing the path. I then checked my back tyre to make sure it hadn't got caught up in the spokes. Not long ago, a couple of the students at the school I am teaching at, spotted a snake on the back oval heading towards the railway line.

My first experience of a snake with students was when we were out walking in the bush on a school excursion. It was only a baby brown snake but we took precautions and gave it a wide berth with one adult keeping an eye on it and directing the students to go around it and the other adult ensuring the students did not go close to it to check out its markings and/or to try and play with it. Some of those kids were bush kids and would have liked to have got up close and personal. I still have the photo of that snake.

We have had guest appearances from reptile keepers who come to schools and allow kids (and staff) to handle the less-venomous ones and see the reptiles up close and personal. I remember one teacher who had a very strong phobia of snakes, allowing a snake to be put on her shoulders. She was very brave! These sessions are usually done well and students enjoy their visits. They are given lots of information about the reptiles and also told what to do if you encounter one in the bush and/or if one encounters you or a person you are with. First aid is very important. 

When we went to the zoo recently as part of our camp, the students enjoyed going into the reptile section. It was a dark place (literally) with minimal lighting to guide people's footsteps around from window to window. The students would ask me to "come and look at this one!" or "Look at that one under the branch!" and I 'oohed' and 'aahed' at appropriate times maintaining my resolve not to show fear.

At one school I was at, I was outside of the classroom dealing with a boy who was having a melt-down when suddenly he pointed at a snake that was slithering off into the rocky, garden area. I ushered him inside and called the office to let them know what we had seen. The boy's melt down was forgotten and the diamond python snake (or was it a tiger snake) he had seen got longer and longer each time the story was recounted to the other students. The students ran to the window when the snake catcher came and watched it being caught and bagged up. It was a very exciting event.

So, as we slide towards summer and spot snakes slithering their slender bodies, be still and stealthily slip away from the vicinity in which they are sighted.