There are lots of mediocre encounters that anyone working in the field woul=
d remember, but a couple stick out in my mind because both of them were mor=
e frightening in retrospect. (I will send the second story later).
On my first night in Varirata in Papua New Guinea, I spent the night cruisi=
ng the roads listening for owls and owlet-nightjars. At the side of the roa=
d I noticed a glistening reflection on the small shoulder of one road that =
headed out to a lookout. Upon further investigation, this turned out to be =
a rather large brown python that I decided to measure. I found his head and=
upper body partway down the embankment but while I was measuring him he ke=
pt trying to turn his head on me and repeatedly banged it against a shrub r=
ight beside it. At 15 feet, I thought this was a serious snake and I felt a=
tiny pang of sympathy for the numerous wallabies that I had seen that nigh=
t. Exciting stuff, but obviously a situation I controlled, and I wanted bir=
ds.
After recording a Large-tailed Nightjar in the picnic area parking lot an h=
our later, I was walking back to our car with my wife, flashlight bouncing =
off my leg as I walked. I was only 20 feet from my car when I caught a move=
ment a meter in front of my feet. I put my arm in front of my wife and stop=
ped us. The flashlight revealed a nasty looking little ( 8 inches) viper th=
at simply had stopped in our path as it was crossing the gravel parking lot=
. I had my suspicions but it wasn't until several days later back in Port M=
oresby that I positively identified it as a Death Adder. Our host told us t=
hat, in 8 years of visiting Varirata, he had never seen one but that he had=
not spent that much night time in the park. He then went on to tell us a s=
tory about a local politician who had been bitten by one while working in h=
is garden at lunch time. By the time he got to hospital for anti-venom, the=
staff person with a key to the proper cupboard was on lunch and, by the ti=
me they were able to administer, it was too late. The time span was about h=
alf an hour. And we had been at least 60 minutes from the nearest hospital =
at midnight. Flashlights are wonderful inventions.
Scott Connop
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