It's jungle here too!

You don't need to visit a wildlife park to get up close and personal with nature when you live here. The birds were going crazy squarking and dive bombing a large Goanna which has taking up residency (for reasons best known to himself) in the wattle tree. He is so well camouflaged you can just see his back and tail on the right side of the tree trunk just above the green leaves.

I decided to have a swim it was boiling hot and the concrete was too hot to stand on so I was half hopping and half marching across to the pool when I had to stop dead in my tracks. There sunning itself on the edge of the pool with its tail dangling into the water was a snake. That's the first time I've seen one in the pool. It must've been the sight if me in my swimmers that made him take flight or fright and thankfully he decided to cut short his swimming session. He bolted straight up a palm tree and rustled around in it for ages, whilst I swam my laps with my eyes firmly fixed on that palm, in case he changed his mind. We often get water dragons around the pool but Tilly asks them to leave and they generally do. Recently there has been a batch of baby ones hatched and they have embarked on some kind of underwater endurance competition. They are small (about 15cm or 6 inches long) thin and wiry. On the bottom of the pool they look for all the world like a piece of bark. I tried to Pick one up with my foot the other morning thinking it was a piece of bark the pool cleaner had missed and it moved. Richo said it's amazing how well a squeal will travel over water.

The neighbours have chooks and they are so well,  fed birds from all over the neighbourhood are coming for the banquet. Unfortunately the rats and mice have discovered the smorgasbord so they have begun supplementing their free grain diet with Richo's veges from the garden, pumpkins, passion fruit, pawpaw and tomatoes have worn the brunt of their lust for diet variety. Tilly the terrier is particularly interested in their activity and frequently hunts into places she can't reach them and then grizzles or barks until she gets help with the hunt. 

We have some serious building happening here at the moment and this was discovered in the wall by the apprentice builder when he was removing some bricks to install the new air conditioner. I would've been far less calm than him if that cold wet thing had landed on my hand, especially given the number of discarded snake skins that had been pulled out of the roof that morning. He was so gentle allowing it to hop back onto its brick and carefully placing it on the second storey scaffold without disturbing it too much.

 It's not just the rodents, reptiles and amphibians. The ants have moved in away from all the building disruption and managed to to invade my you beaut coffee machine. Cafe Latte with essence of ant anyone???? Grrr. I needed that coffee after the night I just had. 

Richo found the largest spider he has seen Barr the bird eating variety in a zoo inside the house. Reckons it was so large you could take fillets off it. Though I'm not sure it there is a market for spider fillets! 

At 1.23am it's brother or bigger cousin crawled over my throat, face and hair. I didn't see it but I felt its cold body on my skin. I estimate it weighed just under a kilo😳 I jumped out of bed punching at my own head like a ninja on steroids. Too frightened to call for help, Tilly came to My rescue but didn't know from what and my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it. Needless to say that was the end of my nights sleep. I couldn't find the spider and was convinced it would come back.

I am a real DIY person but not DIY Safari and definitely not inside my own home. I'm thinking of changing my doormat to NOT WELCOME!!