I much prefer to be called an herpetophile than to be regarded as an ophiophile . I think that I have always been fond enough of frogs and lizards to qualify under the first title , but like most people I know , I was taught early to shun snakes . I have since learned to take them as they come , naturally as long as they are not coming at me at all fast .

Probably my first introduction to snakes came when my old cat , Ginger , used to forage now and then in the bush below our house in my home town . He would often bring a small snake home from there, usually alive , much to my mother's shrieking horror . He even graduated to the larger lizards , like , once , a small goanna . Since it was I who often had to dispose of them , I became used to handling them.

I distinctly remember one quite beautiful apple green one which he proudly deposited at the back door , and kept it there by patting it down by the head , till somebody came out to admire his skills as a hunter.

Later , when my father and I trekked out in the mountains round my home town , I learned to keep a watchful eye out for the black and the brown snakes , the latter king browns in particular . They had the nasty habit of attacking , and in one case that I know of , one actually pursued a small boy who had irritated it.

Long before we ventured to Dondingalong , my son and I , following a regular routine path around the hills outside Wagga Wagga would just as regularly come across a big rock python , sunning itself on a rock outcrop . It must have got very tired of us with our dragging it back from the hole it was trying to take refuge in , examining it , and then letting it go.

I had no real trouble with any of the snake or lizard clan at Dondingalong as they went their way and I went mine . Many of the lizards are quite harmless , though I would not have cared to tangle with the huge goanna that was scrabbling its way up the big gum up by the ridge road . It was presumably after a birds' nest high up in the tree, but its size in no way deterred the parent birds who swooped and attacked it time and time again , singly and as a team , till it gave up .

In fact , travelling down from Dondinaglong via a back road on my way to my son's home at Wauchope , I first nearly ran over by accident , then captured , a big Jew lizard ( Pogona Barbata -- Bearded Dragon ) Since they are a good thing for keeping down various pests in gardens , I donated it to my son . We removed several ticks from its neck before releasing it in his orchard . There's a picture of a handsome specimen , with beard up and body flattened out in the fight / flight position at :

http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/bioinformatics/lizards/images/barblive1.htm

Another very useful non-venomous lizard is the Blue-tongue , of which there were a couple at Dondinglong , and were much encouraged in the orchard.

The commonest snake on the block was the Red-Bellied Black, quite a beautiful creature , and I was upset when , while I was in Sydney , one got caught in the netting over my strawberries and died there . But I saw lots of them , probably because the dam had lots of frogs !

Apart from once stepping over a fallen log and almost onto a very long but very thin brown snake , from whom I departed at speed , I had two interesting encounters with snakes.

One Saturday afternoon I was sitting in an armchair , watching the football on television . The set had a rabbit-ears aerial , and I could see between them through the big windows to the gully beyond .

I was however distracted by something waving back and forth and I suddenly realised it was a snake , one that looked in that light to be a big brown. I hastily dressed in protective clothing , including work gloves , but when I got outside it fled round the side of the house and up into a big roller blind that came down over the side window. The only solution to the problem of its removal was to drop the blind and prod the beast out . As it issued forth I could see that it was a lovely olive green , with blue flecks in the side scales -- so I simply let it go up into the area towards the road . It was a green tree snake , apparently one with ambition to live indoors.

The other incident involved digging out compost from the heap to transfer to the orchard . I dug out a torpid ( fortunately ! ) snake. As I was wearing heavy gloves I was able to pick it up , carry it to the house to show the grandchildren who were visiting , and then let it go. It was the incredibly coloured black and white banded snake , naturally known as the Bandy Bandy , a beautiful creature . I am not sure how venomous it is .

Of course , the place abounded in skinks and geckos , great animals to watch and enjoy .

Luckily , where I live now there are plenty of the latter making themselves useful in the gardens , but as yet I haven't seen any snakes .