Today's animal: Red-bellied black snake

Well I took a walk to try to find Cumbebin Swamp boardwalk. There are one or two vague references on the internet but nothing very precise, and all several years old so I'm beginning to suspect it may no longer exist.

I found myself heading up Skinners Shoot Road which heads past the brewery, (small) cinema and backpacker hostel then cuts through Cumbebin (2nd pic) - you'd never guess you are 10 mins walk from Byron centre.

After probably no more than 15m I spotted this red-bellied black snake basking (at a safe distance!). Cool!! At the time I didn't notice its tail which is towards the bottom of the pic. I guess it must have been at least 4' long. 😨 The 3rd pic shows the context. Sheltering from the rain in town this morning I'd been talking to a local guy about snakes. Apparently the black ones tend to be less confrontational than the brown - good info to have! Checking on the internet just now these are venomous but the bite is not generally fatal.

Just as reassurance, I'm not planning on being bitten by anything bigger than a mozzie 😉Read more