Wherrol Flat resident Kim Reeve got a nasty surprise while she was gardening on Friday, October 8 - a death adder out in the open in her backyard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kim was spending the day gardening in the perfect spring weather.
"I was just collecting leaves and I could see the dog bailing up a bearded dragon or something big, and as I ran towards it, that's when I realised it wasn't (a lizard)," she said.
"I was surprised more than anything, and I jumped back."
Kim said she was able to identify the adder by its body shape and the tip of its tail.
The family has been living on the property for around 28 years, and it's the first time she has seen a death adder there.
However death adders aren't strangers to the area.
"Over the years the neighbour above me has lost quite a few dogs from death adder bites," Kim said.
She suspects she had rousted out the deadly snake from her garden by cleaning up leaf litter, or removing a pallet that was in the garden.
Local snake catcher and reptile enthusiast Brenton Asquith agrees.
"It is very likely she displaced it by the cleaning up because they hide in leaf litter and sand and loose stuff," Brenton said.
He also said that while death adders are found in that area, they are uncommon. And he was taken by the unusual colouring of the reptile.
"That colour form is rare. Very cool."
While Kim has never seen a death adder on her property before, she is used to seeing black and brown snakes in her paddocks, and shares her verandah with a resident python.
"It just goes around the verandah, and at the bottom of the verandah I've got a fishpond and it goes down and lies near the water waiting for something to come past," she said.
Also in the news:
Did you know? Manning River Times online subscribers not only have 24/7 access to local and national news, sport, what's on and entertainment - they also have access to our print editions in digital format, with all the advertisements and classifieds at their fingertips.
Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
