the maremma, the fox and the tiger snake

the solar powered 'hut' we rent from friends, so we have somewhere to sleep when we do markets in the margaret river area, most weekends.

the lights last for ages at this time of year with all this sunshine, but i will have to adjust my brain for the middle of winter when batteries wont keep the lights going till late.

its been great to have a place we can stay with cetti the maremma without having to worry about intruding on friends, (he is quite large......think, miniature pony), about other dogs, or keeping him cooped up in the car. he had an unfortunate interlude with one of the many short eared rabbits that roam around the owners house about 500 metres away. he thought he'd done good, when i turned up in a panic to retrieve him from the scene of the crime!!!! we have always encouraged catching of rabbits, mice etc............ luckily he was the just latest in a long line of short eared rabbit catching visitors and they were philosophical about it.
he has flushed out a feral cat from the timber stack, and he likes to keep the area immediately around the hut free from roos. Its fascinating to watch the interactions between him and the roos changing as they get used to each other. Its hilarious to see him 'just pretending' to be asleep.....surrounded by them lined up in rows at dawn, ears up, about 20 metres away, like statues, watching him intently.....................they scatter when i appear.

and is working on getting rid of the resident fox, we went up the hill sunday late afternoon to see if we could find the fox, but cetti accidentally found a tiger snake instead. i was 90% sure he didnt get bitten, but all i saw was him jumping sideways suddenly and looking down at where he had been, i looked where he was looking and there was the snake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! where cettis feet had been a nano second before!!

the nearby vet i phoned, told me what to look for, but said that by the time i saw any signs it would probably be all over in minutes........and he didnt have any antivenom? ($1500??) so he suggested we go off to the vet in busselton 50 kms away to have a blood test done so i could relax about the 10% doubt..........luckily all clear..........but had to watch him closely for next 24 hrs!

so hopefully next weekend at markets wont be so traumatising for me......!