While not directly related too paddling, this post is one of those things that make you appreciate the world we live in.
This happened yesterday outside my front door and it stayed with me all day provoking thoughts of sadness, anger, admiration and a renewed respect for Nature and the way in which she works.
It played out like this .... my first thoughts were to bash the Python and try and save the Mother Possum, but why should i interfere with the natural course of Nature. The python has every right to a meal it obviously stalked and on closer inspection the Possum had already been asphyxiated and crushed by the snake and was deceased.
As i watched in amazement, a baby possum appeared from the bush nearby where it had obviously fled when the mother was dragged into the open. It proceeded to defend its mother as best it could and it was a beautiful but sad thing to watch, as its brave but futile efforts had no bearing on the outcome.
Within half an hour the Python had swallowed the Possum whole and crushed it to a small size within its powerful body.
Another baby appeared out of the bush, so i gathered both, placed them in a Woolen Beanie and rang the Wildlife Warriors who came and collected then within an hour, as they were still being teat fed when their mother perished and need proper attention. They said i did the right thing to allow Nature to take it's course and inspected the Python who was still lying satisfied on the path to my front door.
Still, a gamut of thoughts and emotions effected me throughout the day reflecting on how fickle our own life is and the powerful emotions we experience when our own families are under threat.
What a brave little Possum .. i know he and his little sibling will survive and take their place in the big wide world out there. He certainly taught me a thing or two.
Rambo
Watch the little fellow fight. That's him bottom left corner of the video.
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6 comments:
Kudos on the baby saves. You did the right thing.
On another note....you have f*in' boa constrictors where you live?! Jesus, man.
SoCal paddler
Actually SoCal paddler the snake made itself known about two years ago ... i first met him at 3.00am one morning when stepping outside to get a cold drink from the outdoor fridge on the back verandah, he was curled around the top balcony rail and i unknowingly rested my arm on him. Feeling something cold under my arm, i went back inside and turned the lights on .... shit 8ft of snake wrapped around the top rail. We're been friends ever since. I don't tell the BBQ visitors about him for obvious reasons. :lol: :lol:
Damn, Rambo, you're making me rethink my lifetime dream vacation Down Under. That's a sizeable snake, my friend. Thanks for always having your camera around for those of us that live on a snake-free island (let's keep it that way, shall we?).
Aloha,
DMehling
Don, does that mean you won't be staying at my place on your dream holiday. .... Hahaaa.
C'mon Rambo I know you are a hunter, not a gatherer. Fess up, you put the baby on the barby, fresh succulent meat, go down well with a Duke.
Clarkie.
Hey Rambo,
Had a similar experience a couple of years back, I was out running on the bush tracks around the Dam near home and came across an eagle having the same type of struggle with a python, I decided I'd try to save the bird without killing the snake....However once I had freed the eagles head and wing I didn't have enough hands to prevent the snake and the eagle (now they both saw me as the enemy) from biting me so I dispatched the snake and saved the eagle. I thought afterward if I had done the right thing or should I have just let nature take it's course, I'm still not sure but I often watch the eagles riding the updrafts along the dam wall and wonder if one of them is the same bird. In the end I think we are part of mother nature and are taking part whether we like it or not, After all to truly not take part you would have left the baby's to perish or be eaten by something else.
Cheers
Greg
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