Cunnamulla, QLD Australia
(updated)
Many of you have asked what my typical day is like while mining in Koroit. This is the tale of last Sunday:
As some of you may know Big Brown did not win the triple crown. I wanted to say thank you very much to Jim, who is the publican (manager) of the Warrego Hotel Motel. East coast USA post time for the Belmont stakes was about 6:30pm Saturday, which was 8:30am Sunday, Koroit / Cunnamulla time. After chatting with Jim on Thursday he offered to open the Warrego at 8am on Sunday for us to watch the race. Paul and I pulled my 4WD up to the front of the pub a few moments before 8am and found ourselves 2 barstools while Jim turned on the TV and did his paperwork. We watched the pre-race chatter and were amazed at the short odds on the favorite. I hoped Big Brown would win . . . the first triple crown in 30 years. I remember watching Affirmed in the triple crown - and I was there when he ran that summer in Saratoga. On Sunday as the horses were about to be loaded into the starting gate, the Australian announcer said that they had lost the feed from ESPN. During the actual running of the race we watched the rather blank faces of the Australian announcers. After 3 or 4 minutes they told Australia that Big Brown had been eased and finished out of the money. About 10 minutes later we did see a replay of the unfortunate race. I was sorry to see no triple crown winner, but glad to see he seemed to be ok (I still don't know why he pulled up - quarter crack?).
After the race Paul and I had fish & chips in Cunnamulla, then returned to the mine. Paul felt like mining, so he started the generator and went down the ladder to do some digging. I stayed on the surface and sorted some rough, did a bit of reading and contemplating - I'm reading "A New Earth". . . which naturally leads one to the land of contemplation of the nature of existence, ones ego, identity, responsibility, ones own foolish behavior and place in the cosmos. In the midst of my Sunday afternoon oof deep thought, Paul ran up to my shed, out of breath, and said he had trapped a snake down in the mine.
Paul had seen a snake down in the mine a few times before Sunday. We left a broom stick down in the mine to deal with such critters. Paul used the broom stick to trap the snake in a space between the wall, ceiling and an old back-filled shaft.
I grabbed an extra flashlight, my gloves, a machete and climbed down the ladder. Once we both got down into the mine, I explained to Paul that there were to be no heroes doing anything foolish. However, since he has children I asked him to stay behind me. Certainly I did not want anyone to be bitten, but if it had to happen I would prefer to be the one. If he was bitten, I'd feel far too guilty. We knew we were almost certainly going to be dealing with one of the most venomous snakes in the world and were a bumpy one hour trip on a dirt road away from medical care on a Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately we did not have much choice. Because the snake was down in the mine in an area we were working, it needed to be "dealt with". We got to the broom stick; I saw part of the body of the snake trapped under the broomstick up at an angle along a crumbly dirt pile about 5 feet away. This was in a tight area of a small tunnel about 40 feet underground. The only light was from our 3 flashlights (Paul was using 1, I was using 2 and had an extra in my pocket.).
It can be difficult to accurately identify a few of the most venomous snakes in this area. However, the finer points of identification make little difference when you're trying to decide exactly which of the 3 most venomous snakes in the world you are trying not to be bitten by. It looked like it was either a common brown or a taipan - the debate was between #1 or #2 most venomous snake. Either way, we should be careful.
We grabbed the end of the broomstick, tried to work ther snake down, but it was quite strong and trying to get away. Paul held the snake in place while I grabbed a snake pole I had made from a 5 foot long section of conduit and piece of rope about 7 or 8 years ago. We tried to work the snake down using the broomstick and snake pole with no luck (at least not for us). The snake's tail did move a bit closer to us, almost within reach. Yes, I've watched the crocodile hunter grab snakes by the tail, and that silly thought did run through my mind, but I'm not that experienced, I quickly mentioned it in a joking way to Paul who quickly yelled at me not to do it just to make sure. I did not reach for its tail.
Again I should point out this snake was semi-trapped on the surface of a dirt pile uphill from us. If the snake came loose, it would naturally roll toward us. . . and not be too happy. I loosened the rope on the pole and was able to slip it around the snake's tail. However, tails can break off rather easily. As Paul carefully moved the snake I was able to slip the rope up the snake's body. I mentioned earlier I am in the process of reading "A New Earth". One of the points of the book is the importance of being aware of "now", of not being consumed by regrets from the past or worries about the future. As Paul and I were laying on the side of that dirt pile wrestling with the serpent, we very much were living in the now. It was, as the kids say, intense.
Once the rope was around a thicker part of the snakes body - about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way along the body from the tail - I tightened the rope. Feeling that the legless creature with the incredible venom was securely held by the rope, I told Paul I was going to pull the snake down and asked him to take the broomstick and move away. The snake and I started a tug-of-war as I began to pull it down. The thin snake was surprisingly strong. From his quick glimpse, Paul estimated it was about 2 feet long. As I began to win the tug-of-war we saw it was more than 2 feet in length. Once the snake had lost its hold on a rock it was relatively easy to pull it the rest of the way down the side of the dirt pile.
Down at the base of the dirt pile, while trapped by the rope on the snake pole, the beast did not appear to be too aggresive. However, some species, particularly the fierce snake (also known as the inland or western taipan or the small scalled snake), exhibit no warning behavior before they strike. Since we thought this could be a fierce snake and I thought the fierce snake is a protected species, we certainly did not want to kill it. I carefully held it down with the machete along the back of its neck about an inch from its head. I guess it must have felt suicidal. . . somehow while I was holding it down, its head became separated from the rest of its body. Accidents happen.
Even though the snake's head was no longer attached to its body, it was important to rememeber 2 things: 1. the head will keep biting for a while after it is removed from the body, and 2. even after the snake is dead and the head stops biting the fangs still are sharp and the venom is just as deadly in a dead snake as it is in a live snake - at least for several hours.
After catching our breath we carefully moved the head and the body of the snake into a large bucket, put it in the hoist, climbed the ladder to the surface and brought the bucket up.
The snake measured a bit over 36 inches long. We took the head, put it in a cutoff Coke can, poured in some gasoline (or petrol as they say here) and burnt the head. The high temperature from the fire will destroy the proteins of the venom. Because we were unsure about the species of the snake we took the body of the snake with us to the artesian bore where we atake showers. At the bore we saw Fritz and Brad, two of the nicest, most knowledgable and most helpful folks in Koroit. Looking at the body they were able to tell it was a fierce snake. . . the most venomous land snake on earth.
. . . so that was a Sunday in Koroit. . .
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