…you unearth a snakeskin in your garden and realise you don’t have to be afraid.
I’m not saying I didn’t panic and squeal when I first saw it. For all my bravado of I’m Australian and I’m not scared of spiders or sharks or snakes, as I rolled back the fabric laid over my garden to reveal a long, scaly skin, I let out plenty of squeals. Then I immediately burst out laughing… before abruptly stopping and peering closer to make sure it was just that – a skin.
And then I put gloves on and rolled the rest of the fabric back very slowly. And I also uncovered a tail – a hollow, creepy looking thing that was most definitely a tail.
Apparently, it’s something called a Blindschleiche or a Slow worm, according to Wikipedia. Now I’m not saying the creatures in Australia aren’t terrifying, but I never saw a worm this big before. The skin was about the length of a ruler and even though I’m aware there’s next to no venomous snakes in Austria (whereas in Australia they pretty much all are), I decided it was better left where it was.
The only good thing that’s come from this (apart from the fact that my resident snake or worm is about as harmless as a hedgehog) is that I read that these creatures sometimes eat crickets… let’s hope they devour some of the evil mole crickets that are attacking the seeds in my garden!
Good snake! Stay!
an aussie in austria 