But Of All
These Pests, None Can Equal The Snakes, Which Not Only Swarm, But Seem To
Have No Fear Of Man, Selecting Dwellings By Choice For An Abode.
These
horrible reptiles are of all sizes, from the large carpet snake of twenty
feet, to the little rock viper of scarcely half a dozen inches.
The great
majority of these are venomous, and are of too many different kinds for me
to attempt their enumeration here. The most common with us were the brown,
black, and whip snakes, and the death-adder, all poisonous; and the
carpet-snake, harmless. The brown and black snakes run from two to eight
feet in length, frequent the long grass, chiefly in the neighbourhood of
swamps, and from the snug way in which they coil up, and their
disinclination to move, are highly dangerous. The latter is very handsome,
the back of a brilliant black, and the under portion of a sea-shell pink.
Their skin is sometimes used by bushmen as a cover to their waistbelts,
which are much beautified thereby. The whip-snakes are of all sizes and of
all colours; in fact, under this name the colonists include all the slender
climbing snakes, so many of which inhabit Australia. In my opinion, these
are the worst; for they come boldly into your room in search of warmth, and
may be found stowed away in a boot, or under the pillow, or in any place
where they are least expected. Last and worst of our venomous snakes comes
the death, or deaf, adder, for it is called indiscriminately by both names,
and amply justifies either prefix.
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