This could get a lot like "fishing stories" =96 but here's my
contribution - also a snake story:
Around 1980 I was working in Malaysia and one of my interests was a
study of cave swiftlets. One study site was a small cave (actually
the overflow passage of one of Kuala Lumpur's reservoirs) about 2.5m
in diameter and maybe 400m long, surrounded by rain forest. I would
go in there with a headlamp and examine nests of White-bellied
Swiftlets during the breeding season. It was pretty black in there
and the nests only started after about 200m in. On one visit I saw
that many had been torn down and part of the colony disrupted
terribly. My first thought was maybe this was the work of a large
water monitor lizard, of which there were many about, and so searched
the mud at my feet for tracks. Failing to find any I turned my
attention back to the cave walls and the wrecked nests. Hanging off
the edge of a small ledge I saw the tail-end of a snake, I went for a
closer look and as I moved my headlamp along and the body got wider I
recognised the markings of a reticulated python, realising it was now
getting quite large =96 maybe 4-5 m long I quickly turned to find out
what the head end was doing as I felt maybe this was not the right
company at close quarters in a small cave. I found the business end
just as the snake struck, and for what seemed like a long time (in
reality probably milliseconds) I stared right into its gaping mouth
as it shot towards my face, with about a foot to go it suddenly
stopped, the jaws audibly snapping shut and retracting all in one
movement. I admit to being rooted to the spot, I'm not sure I could
have run even if my muscles had got such a signal from my paralysed
brain ! Later our department snake expert told me that the python was
probably at first attracted by the heat from my headlamp, but on
getting close it maybe received an overload signal in the heat-
sensitive pits in its head, and that caused the sudden retreat.
Although I went in there many times after this incident I was never
quite as relaxed again...... and maybe those horrible old tin
headlamps with big screw-in bulbs and 4 "D" cells strung around your
waist were not so bad after all !
Chris
--- In "Suzanne Williams"
<> wrote:
>
> I just wanted to say I am enjoying these stories. I have none near
> half as exciting. Keep them coming!
>
> ----------------------
> Suzanne
> Suzanne Williams Photography
> http://web.tampabay.rr.com/swilli41/www
> Florida, USA
>
>
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