A telephone call from the excited Queen of the Jungle caused instant action in the slumbering Little Darwin den / menagerie . Come quickly, she ordered, the snake is back . This was reference to the carpet snake previously spotted in the royal grounds during the night , the subject of an exclusive report in this blog .
After throwing on sandals and a shirt , this scruffy writer took off at speed down the street on foot with a camera, wife bringing up the rear , a very safe distance away , her footwear not properly tied on because of the drama .
On reaching the royal residence , the Queen was seen peering and pointing into a tub of prickly bougainvillea which she had noticed was bobbing about near the nearby empty aviary, once used by the Queen to examine the life cycle of Torres Strait Pigeons . Sure enough, there was a carpet snake slithering out of sight , apparently intent on entering the aviary. It was necessary to slip into the cage, stifling the insane urge to talk like a Cockatoo and whistle , first checking to see there was not a stray Death Adder in the overgrown weeds , and manoeuvre to get photographs of the snake .
The snake , which both the Queen and my wife agreed looked beautiful , slipped inside an upturned crate , formed itself into a compact bundle , head in the centre , and seemed to settle down for the night .
No sooner had this exciting story been belted out on the snakey computer than the telephone rang . It was the Queen again , breaking the news that there was another carpet snake, smaller , on the property , come quickly . What !!! Laughter . Covering the feet and body once more, grabbed the camera , my wife informed me tea was just about ready as I ran out the door and lurched down the road , thinking I must take my blood pressure after all this sprinting about .
There was the Queen standing out front , Curlews nearby . Three were near the driveway gate , one of them, fluffed up in attack mode , like a pointer dog, staring at the snake, its head visible in the following photo.
The snake suddenly retreated and disappeared under the large nearby outside deep freeze. Her Majesty did not take kindly to a suggestion that she should cash in with an exotic snake dance when the island opens again for tourists.
It being the usual evening feed time for the birds , she threw handfuls of tucker onto the driveway grass and scores of Curlews, raucous, aggressive Lorikeets, a Kookaburra and a loud Currawong responded like it was a state of origin football match , there being no regard for social distancing, at times the scrimmage exploding into distorted shapes and splashes of colour.
