I have just come inside from "trying" to hang out the washing. I am in the suburbs of an Australian capital city and have just narrowly avoided stepping on a yellow-bellied black snake sunning itself by the washing line. It is not the first time my family and I have encountered snakes on our suburban plot. Actually, it's the third time in eighteen months. I just want to mention this as there are those out there who tell people who are considering the move to Australia that the spiders and snakes tales are exagerated. They're not.

Can I be the first to stomp in and to defend Oz and say it's the same in the UK?

Oh nuts, it isn't

You're right, there are a whole host of things out there that'll kill ya ... the commute is currently my prediction ... we've just got a snake bite medical kit just in case, in fact.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...sive-care.html

It's not just the snakes and spiders that'll get ya...

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ma...0406-rnqk.html

We often get snakes, but we are in bushland.

This year we have had a tree snake wound up round the deck. A large brown slithered past where partner was servicing the ute. The best one was at 1am while I was in the UK, partner hears the dogs going nuts, goes out and finds one dog and a large carpet snake having a standoff over a dead rat. He got the dog away and chucked the rat to the snake which pounced back on its dinner

At the moment we have wallabies, and a ecidna, ( hedgehog ) looking thing which makes pointed holes in the garden digging for ants and termites.

I actually like the wildlife we get, snakes dont worry me its not the sort of place you would live if they did.

Except that really, it's not a 'yellow belly black snake' cos that's not really a snake in Aus... just a common name which several snakes get because people don't really know what they are.

So it sounds like it could be a Common Tree Snake or Dendrelaphis punctulata in Latin... It comes in lots of different colours (which is why snake identification can be difficult) green, grey, black with a yellow belly (wrongly called yellow belly black snake) and even a light blue colour.

You'll be pleased to know that these are a non venomous frog feeding snake and are reluctant to bite.

It could also have been an Eastern Tiger snake which is a bit more venomous..

Butler's snake is a tai pan which has the name too... but that comes from SW Australia, so not near you at all.

3 in eighteen months is pretty average really I'd say. That's one every 6 months.

You wouldn't mind popping over then to hang out my washing.

Not at all. Can you pay for the flight?

I actually love snakes - they're beautiful. I've only seen three this year which was a bit disappointing. One brown, one red bellied black and one other that I am yet to ID. I like to photograph them and the more you learn about them, the better off you..and they, are.

Yeah yeah I know... they don't mean us any harm blah blah. They'll just bundle us off to hospital if we accidentally bump into them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely anti-snake. I used to like English snakes. Quite happy to handle and study them... but the big, venomous suckers here are a whole different ball game.

What suburb is this ? Always good to know where to avoid.

Big snakes are a handful.

I hate snakes now. In the UK I was also quite happy to handle them, but after being bitten and being rushed to Truro hospital, I never quite got to like them again.

Was it an Adder?

Are you kidding? 3 snakes in 18 months and you would want to avoid it?

Ouch ... I was tempted by the Google Ad on there too "Is Jesus God? Scholars examine the facts about Jesus' claims to be God" ... isn't the 'net marvellous?