Under the shed !

Charles in Aus.

Well-known Member
Steve@Advance asked me about biting critter stories , this happened on Tuesday last , enough excitement for the rest of the year .


A Wombat has taken up residence under my power generation shed and I have suffered his existence even though he has dug and clawed through the entire subfloor area around stumps and under the adjacent bathroom .

Besides it has a low floor and there was no way I was going to crawl round on my belly trying to turf him out or so I thought .
I heard an ominous water hissing sound coming from under the toilet pan right in the middle of the whole shebang and in the most inaccessible area imaginable , there was nothing for it but to crawl under through the Wombat's own entrance and see what was happening .


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Five odd metres flat on my belly though this !

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I found the leak and returned with the pipe joiner and tools and braced myself for another ' Great Escape ' experience , then there in the gloom I saw what I thought was the pipe , that is until the pipe moved and came towards me ! I froze , then gingerly and very slowly turned the torch slightly to illuminate the ' pipe ' , there not two feet away and looking directly at my horrified face, tongue flicking ,body slightly coiled , eyes bright in the light of the torch ,was the biggest Tiger snake I have ever seen . Fat and sleek from a Spring spent eating the rats and mice that seem to find this building irresistible.
Curtains I thought , a snake that size would deliver such a load of venom that I would have less than a hour's grace , this coupled with the exertion needed to extricate myself from underneath the building and the inevitable panic would ensure that I was incapable of movement within twenty minutes . To add to the horror there was also the knowledge that the venom delivered or even spat into an eye would lead to certain and permanent blindness.
Then a Christmas miracle occurred , I swear it winked at me before it slowly backed away , two souls , neither wanting to die just at that moment reached a consensus and went on their own separate ways .

I gave thanks and backed out carefully , the entire time hoping that there were no ' Family members ' behind me .

Yet there was still the problem of the water leak , it took more than a few drams of Scotch to steady the nerves until I could summon the courage to re enter the sub floor and fix the leak .

Bloody Wombat , the offending hole looks as if it was made with a tool , such is the size and strength of their teeth .


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I'm afraid there would have been more than Wombat poop under the shed if I was under there with you.

I'd have burned the shed down.... lol

Cheers, Larry
 
This is why I live where lake ice is
measured in feet! You can have all that,
I'll watch it on tv.
 
Good story! Thanks!

Reminds me of the time I was plumbing a lake cabin for a friend of mine.

This was in an area known for rattlesnake infestation, many miles and a boat ride away from any hospital.

The cabin was set on cinder blocks, too low to the ground to begin with, so access was difficult. Lots of scrunching along in the rocks to get where I needed to be. I had been under there for a while, just about finished, and I hear this conversation going on outside:

Friend "What's wrong with that dog, she's been barking at something for 30 minutes!"

Friends girlfriend "It's a snake!!!"

Friend "What kind?"

Friends girlfriend "I think it's a rattler!"

Friend "Get the dog away! Where's my gun?"

Me "NO! Let me out of here first!"

Friend "BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG..."

Me "Did you get him?"

Friend "I don't know, I don't see him!"

Took me a lot less time to get out of there than to get under!

Not sure what was the most danger, the snake, or the ricocheting rain of bullets coming my way!
 
(quoted from post at 05:49:02 12/20/17) This is why I live where lake ice is
measured in feet! You can have all that,
I'll watch it on tv.

AAAAAAA-MEN!!!

I've never been claustrophobic, but when my mid-section began expanding, so did my thoughts about getting stuck one time. Seems the back of my jeans at the waist would get caught on nails and such and....well, just got to where I couldn't (and shouldn't!) be crawling around like a baby anymore. Vowed then and there that from that moment on, any time I had to do that again, I'd be making a new hinged door in the floor!!

As for the snakes, the only snakes we have up here are Garter snakes. However, we don't hardly ever see any except shortly before Winter, so when one jumps out at you (and they DO jump out at you!! :shock: ), ....well, let's just say my original pointed head has had a couple of small additions added to it over the years. *lol*
 
I was let down a well over 50 feet as a kid to check the condition. I was about 16 years old.
Had a 40 watt bulb on a long cord. There was a cave on one side of the well near the bottom. Looked in it and saw 2 eyes looking out at me. It was a snake over wintering in the well. It did not move, but I did as soon as the guys up top sent the big bucket back down with the windless.
Richard in NW SC
 
Had to look up what a Wombat was. Cute looking critters....with speeds up to 25 MPH when threatened. Think I'll reserve seeing one face to face for a zoo visit. lol
 
Great story, Charles, and nicely told. I feel that you must have left something out, though. "more than a few drams of Scotch" may have been required to steady your nerves enough to go back under the shed to repair the plumbing, but drinking Scotch wouldn't do anything about the presence of the tiger snake, or, contrary to folklore, protect you from snake venom. Everything I've read that you've posted on this site suggests that you're an intelligent and reasonable person, so I feel that you must have done something about the snake before you went under there again. And Merry Christmas, unless you celebrate Christmas on June 25th there. (kidding)

Stan
 
Well I would be calling the insurance company If I had a snake like that around my house. The reason for calling them is to report the fire. LOL
 
A less dramatic wombat story

Some people in wombat territory had a pet one. Hell on garden fences but still a pet.

One day in idle conversation the question was posed - "Can a wombat swim?"

So off to the nearest waterhole and in went wombat.

Who didn't really settle the question, as it sank to the bottom and walked out.
 
Good story. Well told. Where do
you live down under? My brother
lives in Sydney but has a farm
near Temora NSW. He married a girl
from there and moved there about
25 years ago. Kevin in Central AL
 

South East Victoria Grandpa , almost at the Southernmost tip of Australia . Only place further South is Tasmania and its islands .
 

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