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Stepping on a Huge Snake at Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse!

Stepping on a Huge Snake at Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse!

Like many first-time visitors to Australia, we had certain expectations of what we’d find here. Of course one of the things we’ve heard is that Oz has more poisonous critters than just about anywhere else. So stepping on a large snake might cause sudden death… from a heart attack, if nothing else.

Even though we’ve heard that ” Everything in Australia wants to kill you,” we’re hardly the type to worry about that sort of thing. We’re not about to let hyperbole stop us from experiencing one the most fantastic places in the world.

That said, having been up close and personal with Tasmanian Devils, and running into the biggest spider we’ve ever seen, we know that Australia does indeed have some scary animals.

But I don’t have the same primordial fear of devils & spiders that I do of snakes. Combine that fear with the knowledge that Australia does indeed have a lot of venomous ones, and toss in a major dose of surprise, and you’re looking at the potential for a serious coronary.

I’ve come across lots of snakes in my life, and I’ve learned that the shock level and subsequent response are directly related to the proximity and the size of the snake. Big snake + very close = heart attack. If I see it before getting too close, and it’s not too big (or rattling), I have a good chance of staying calm and not freaking out.

But actually stepping on one… and I mean stepping directly down on the center of the snake with the center of my foot, looking down to see why the ground feels so soft, and seeing three feet of snake to my right, and the other three feet of snake to my left? That was cause for a Cirque-du-Soleil-caliber back-flip.

Accompanied by the shriek of a little girl. At least that what I heard in my head.

It’s not like I haven’t had close calls before. We were RVing outside Phoenix in March one year, and the rattlers were apparently out early. It was dark out, and I was using a black light to look for scorpions (don’t ask) in the palm tree in front of our site.

I heard a buzzing sound on the ground next to my foot, and couldn’t figure out what it was. I swung my black light down into the darkness to reveal a baby rattlesnake, about 2 feet long, about 2 feet from my foot, coiled and ready to strike my ankle. Cirque-du-Soleil-caliber back-flip.

So I was lucky to have been spared a snake bite both times. Watch the video for the whole sordid story, along with some shaky footage of this most recent encounter, and confirmation of the fact that I had stepped on a Carpet Python!

We also had our first dingo sighting, and a greeting from a pair of kookaburra birds. Oh… did I mention that the lighthouse and coastline are beautiful? ;)


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Sheila Hagadone

Wednesday 18th of May 2016

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the tip of stomping your feet to scare away snakes when you walk! I used it today! Am I in Australian? No. I'M IN MY BACKYARD!!! I don't know if it was a rattler, garter or gofer snake but it was a SNAKE! By the time I got a flat nose shovel to kill it - it was gone! Things like this ALWAYS happen when my husband is at work in Alaska (he works on electronics in Prudhoe Bay).

TheRVgeeks

Thursday 19th of May 2016

We're with you Sheila.... a Snake! is a Snake! LOL And a Heart Attack is a heart attack! What type only matters if you're bitten. ;-)

Mike

Saturday 14th of May 2016

I'm enjoying your Aussie trip and I'm seeing things that I missed while on R&R from my tour in South East Asia during the Vietnam war. Now for the kicker,I'm happy that the snake was one without a bad ending as I had my bouts with a cobra and a two stepper Pit Viper while stationed in Thailand. Now if it were me stepping on the snake you stepped on you would be thinking firstly Where in the hell did he go and for sure you would say I thought the Christ was the only who ever walked on water. That dude is surely running back to the states..ha! So in closing have a nice rest of your trip and do try to walk on the ground and not the snakes or wildlife as the Aussie folks do try to protect the critters from us humans. I speak Aussie and that is why I like Fosters Oil Cand a nice brew M8!! < FISH <

TheRVgeeks

Saturday 14th of May 2016

Thanks Mike! Sounds like your snake encounters were worse than mine. Anything with "cobra" or "viper" in the name that isn't a sports car scares the crap out of me. Even the name "python" would have been enough to make me walk on water if there had been some right there. ;-)

Sherol Roy

Saturday 14th of May 2016

Have really enjoyed your videos. I'll probably never make it to Australia so following along with you has been fun, educational and enjoyable.

TheRVgeeks

Saturday 14th of May 2016

Thanks so much Sherol! Glad you could join us here.

John S.

Saturday 14th of May 2016

Isn't is wonderful to walk to a shore and be greeted with a sandy beach or a rugged area where you could watch and listen to the ocean for hours. John looked like he was counting waves looking for the big 7th one, which reminded me of Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière in Papillon.

I am really impressed with the Sugarloaf Point lighthouse. It looks so well maintained on the outside, how about the inside? Did you climb to the lighthouse's gallery for an even better view? Hope you have more video of it that you will share later.

I am also impressed that you have the presence of mind to get a few seconds of video of that little snake. Well done for a snake scaredy-cat. :)

By the way - the first minute of the video is unusually jerky and flickering. Were you having trouble with the edit? Or perhaps a bad internet connection when uploading?

ALWAYS look forward to the notice you've made another video.

TheRVgeeks

Saturday 14th of May 2016

Hey John! Unfortunately, the interior of the lighthouse was not open to the public. We usually look forward to climbing to the top of a lighthouse, but this one was only to be admired from the outside. And you're right - the condition is immaculate. As far as that "liitle" snake, he was a solid 6 feet long. Even for a chicken like me, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that qualifies at least as "big" if not "huge" (although I'll admit that it was not "Yooooooge." ;-)

Regarding the shaky video, it was an unfortunate combination of wanting to use sub-optimal footage (panned too quickly for 30 FPS, but only had this one shot of us camped beachfront), needing to speed it up a bit to time the ending transition with the beat of the music, and a slight rush to get it up vs trying to find replacement footage that fit there. We figured that the look was good enough, since the judder goes along with the slightly sped up footage. That's our story and we're sticking to it! LOL

The next video, which we're currently editing, it a static tripod shot, so no judder. But the sun kept going in and out behind the clouds, so the exposure kept changing. Should have used a manual setting, but there's nothing we could do about it after the fact, so expect another one that could have been a bit better coming up next! Thanks John!

Orene Brown

Saturday 14th of May 2016

P and J,

Love this series!

A few notes:

1. Snakes are not beautiful. 2. I can sing the kookaburra song. ( we sang it in elementary school) 3. I can also mimic the call of the kookaburra. Admittedly it is most authentic after a shot or two of tequila. 4. I love the Australian accent. It is a less snotty sounding British accent and reminds me of The Crocodile Hunter, may he rest in peace. 5. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

TheRVgeeks

Saturday 14th of May 2016

O,

So glad you're enjoying it! Australia is just an awesome place that we now think EVERYONE needs to visit!

A few thoughts on your notes:

We will admit that snakes are slithery, scary and primordially-terrifying. But they CAN be beautiful (far away... as a belt... you know)... of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so you are entitled to disagree How adorable must that have been?!?!? Now THAT'S something we HAVE to see! Tequila shots on us!!! Totally agree... we could listen to Aussies talk all day long! The feeling is MUTUAL!

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