The Queen of the Jungle knew something was amiss when a stray bird , an Olive-backed Oriole , she had taken in would not come down to be fed in an aviary . Normally , it eagerly flew down at tucker time , but it remained in a far corner and did not respond to the dinner gong . Looking about , the Queen was startled to see a snake peering at her from under a rafter.
As the royal person had sustained assorted injuries during her life in Germany and Australia , she was in no condition to wrestle with the serpent . She rang another wildlife carer , versed in Mexican cooking , who had only recently recovered from assorted fractures , so while she could handle a mess of tacos , she was in no shape to tackle a snake.
Another friend , a " snake lady" , was called in and the three amigos then moved in on the reptile : a nicely marked carpet snake of about 5ft .
The said snake lady , who had once been a barista in a café named after Gilligan's Island , with bamboo fittings , got up a ladder , engaged the snake . Naturally , the snake did not want to come out from under the roof . In the adrenalin flowing struggle , the brave snake handler announced she was experiencing vertigo .
Concerned onlookers wondered if they should call the fire brigade and the SES for help , or join hands and try and catch her if Newton's Law applied and she plummeted to earth like an over-ripe Granny Smith apple, clutching the intruder from the Garden of Eden to her throat , replicating a dramatic scene from opera . Quickly dragging out the Queen's mattress off her bed , allowing a prize winning , non-injurious limp fall was also considered .
However , the stoic snake woman , displaying true British pluck , regained her equilibrium , pulled the wriggling snake out from under the beam , popped it into a bag ; later it was released into the wild . A smaller snake was found at the Queen's residence a few months ago , which makes the palace seem like a snakepit in need of a defensive moat to keep out invaders .
No sooner had this story been posted than the Queen of the Jungle rang to say come quickly with the camera because another snake had turned up . Barely dressed , this blogger tottered down to her residence and was shown a patch of blood next to a round water container where the snake, below, had been found , apparently deposited by a Kookaburra who had devoured part of the reptile .
The snake, covered in ants , was placed in a frangipani tree in a residence owned by absent Canberra residents for a passing Kookaburra to finish off and hopefully leave Curlew chicks alone .
