Yes it seemed very clear indeed.

Yes I would accept 6 feet
Just a word of advice when measuring shed skins, they stretch a minimum of 25% so a shed skin measuring 8 feet would come from a snake something like 6 feet in length and probably smaller.

Snake looks 7+ feet to me...



lol

However long he may have been (which ultimately is beside the point isnt it? It was a decent sized snake, capable of dispensing a very serious amount of damage to anyone who chose to get on the sharp end) - he's not there today.

So - either someone picked up and disposed of his body [I'd suggest very carefully], or he wasnt dead, he was resting and has since slithered off elsewhere to go about his snakely duties...

Fits the description of a skink, such as this one:
http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/Verreaux.html

yeah, I was in the garden a year or so ago with my little ones running around when one of them yelled snake. I came running over with the shovel and got them away from the area. It looked very similar to that photo in that link, but the legs were invisible, so I took a split second decision to terminate it. It was only after I killed it and turned it over that you could just make out very very tiny little legs (but you had to hold it very close to make them out).

Well I am disappointed.

Huntsman - smaller than I realised - I was led to believe they were, like, dinner plates.

Snakes - thick as your wrist - I thought they would be twice that.

I blame the children's books I read....

The only one I've seen was curled up by the side of a bush path. I knocked my neighbour over as I spun around and started running away and she was calling after me, "It's dead, you know!"

So do you kill any snake or snake-like creature that comes into your vicinity without knowing what it is?

You do realise that quite a few are actually protected by law, including some deadly ones? In a worst case scenario you should be calling a snake-catcher to remove one.

ALL are protected by law, it makes little difference as I cant recall anyone ever being prosecuted for killing one, just one of those useless laws than noone takes any notice of. Anyway, harmless lizard, dangerous snake, near enough.

No, quite the opposite actually. I have a live policy 99% of the time, but when there are potentially deadly animals living in my very small yard when my very small children are around I do take that policy. If it was a dangerous snake that time, it might have just decided to take up residence somewhere in my yard therefore increasing the likelihood of coming into contact again with my kids.

My in-laws live on a property where a brown snake has taken up residency under the outdoor washing machine. They take the same policy, if it is out in the paddocks they leave them alone, however if it comes into their living quarters they destroy them to avoid learned behaviour. I don't agree with needless killing of animals, however when the chances of safety of your family are high because of it I understand it

Ah. An interesting fact is that of the about 2 people a year who die of snake bites in Australia, they were either trying to handle them or kill them.

What is wrong with simply leaving it be and go away as long as it's not in the house? In which case call a bloody snake-catcher.

....a harmless lizard that just so happens to move like a snake and has barely visible legs, hence why it is so commonly confused with a snake. My decision to terminate it was a split second decision based on my small kids running around in that area and something I am unapologetic for. The alternative was to let it be and watch it go and then spend the next weeks/months wondering when my kids might come into contact with it again. Or call the snake handler and wait the hour or so for them to get there by which time the creature is long gone.

do you actually live in Aus? I assume not. I also assume that you do not have young kids still too young to know not to try and pick a snake up?

No, currently I don't (nearly there though). But before you give me any more of the you don't know what it's like attitude - as a child I lived in India and as a grown up I have worked outdoors in Sri Lanka, Syria and Africa. So yes, I know what snakes are and have seen plenty of deadly ones in my life, close and not so close. This does not change my basic attitude.

Snakes are generally not keen on humans and will avoid them where possible. Especially where small children are involved they will duck and slither away quickly in most cases, due to the noise. No I don't have small children, but in that case I'd have grabbed them and moved them inside for a bit and made a regular thing of telling and explaining to them not to touch or pick up.

Also, I might point out that I am not terribly keen on snakes - so this isn't coming from a snake lover.