Cracking true stories from the Outback - Part 1: Python incidents

David Allan
Aug 6, 2021
6 min read

Updated: Aug 8, 2024

Cracking true stories from the Outback, is a series of journals about life in remote Australia and the characters who live there.

It's a place where adventure and discovery are constant companions.

The stories are not so much about an event but rather a time, an attitude, a way of life.

The 'Bush', refers to rural areas. The 'Outback', refers to locations more remote than rural areas and the 'Never Never' is a remote & mystical place that lies beyond the Outback.

Most of us love the rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, butterflies in the stomach and adrenaline dripping from the roof that happens during a hazardous experience.

It’s that element of fear that makes it a thrill. They say humans enjoy feeling scared, but safe. Thrills give us a sense of our mortality and makes us feel alive.

So if that’s true, where better to be awash with thrills than Australia's far north, particularly Tropical North Queensland, where there are more things that can kill you than anywhere else on the planet.

The rich and unembellished stories in this post comes from our time living in Cairns. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Soon after we moved to Cairns, from Sydney, our second youngest daughter, Tanya, came home telling us what she learnt in Show & Tell that day. She heard how her classmates regularly had their cats and dogs eaten by pythons. So, Rosemary asked the other school mums about the python issue.

These mums, and other friends we spoke to, very enthusiastically, started trotting out their rich collection of python stories which are now presented for your entertainment.

Why tell stories?:

Story telling is an essential human need that has been used, for ever, for entertainment, education and cultural preservation. Compelling story telling is the path to imagination and people are hungry for stories.

Memorable travel turns you into a story teller.

Fun Facts about Pythons:

First some fun facts. Pythons, which can grow to 8.5m long, latch onto their prey, coil around them, squeeze the air out, until their prey dies, then they swallow their prey whole. They swallow starting with the head so the limbs don't get stuck on the way through. They can dislocate their jaw to eat a large animal such as crocodiles, wild pigs and kangaroos. Pythons are non venomous but can do some damage with their bite.

Python story #1 - the motor bike incident:

Our mate Jim had a buddy who came across a python on the side of the road and thought it might be fun to take the snake to work to show his workmates. Notwithstanding the fact that he was only travelling on a motor bike, he was determined to transport this snake so he wrapped the snake around himself, with great bravado, and got on his way.

Of course, he had overlooked the fact that pythons kill their prey by crushing which was exactly what the snake proceeded to do. Furthermore, the snakes tail latched onto the chassis and pulled the riders head down onto the handlebars but, undeterred, he kept going. Funnily enough, he actually made it to work in this condition where it took six of his work mates to get the snake off him by which time he was suffering from severe asphyxiation.

Python story # 2 - a python's got my pillow:

Our mate Michelle, woke up one night after her sleep was shattered by her cat going completely ballistic. A huge adrenalin rush rocketed her over to the light switch where she was confronted by the sight of a huge python devouring her pillow where she was just sleeping. It is thought it was attracted by the smell of the duck down inside as duck apparently are a pythons favourite food. (the cat survived)

Python story # 3 - the duck incident:

Rosemary’s friend Edna, had many ducks which had to be locked up of an evening because of the pythons. One night, Edna’s husband was a little late in locking the ducks up for the night and went outside just on dusk to find three whopping great pythons each with a duck already swallowed. He responded quickly with his shotgun and Edna says "I just heard bang, bang, bang".

Python story # 4 - cockatoo v python:

Another friend came home one day to find a python in their bird cage having swallowed their very large black cockatoo after which the python was too fat to get out of the cage.

Python story # 5 - almost lost the cat:

Rosemarys mate, Michelle, raced out the front of her house, following the sound of intense screaming from their cat, to find a python wrapped around the cat requiring the whole family to jump in and furiously try to unwrap it. Finally all the interference caused the python to release the cat.

Python Story # 6 - a python's got my father:

A friend of our daughter had her father pottering in the backyard one night when she heard a muffled sort of knocking at the back door. After cautiously turning on the outside light she found her father with a python wrapped all around him, unable to get free and looking very distressed.

I would be getting a camera before starting on the python.

Python story # 7 - show & tell:

A young primary school lad from our kids school, in Cairns, found a python in his back yard one evening and somehow convinced his mother to let him take it to school the next day. So the next morning the young lad takes their esky to school with the whopping great python inside. As soon as he arrives in class he opens the lid wreaking absolute chaos, complete with blind panic screaming, in the classroom. In the panic the boy gets bitten by the python. The teacher immediately rings the mother in desperation and says "your son has been bitten by the python". The mother asks if he is in distress at which the teacher says, "no, not really, no". "Well I’m not worried either" says the mother. The python in the meantime escaped into the school garden.

Python story # 8 - I'm sleeping in the car:

Another mate told us about an incident in Cape York where a python crawled up a campers pyjama leg and out his collar while he was asleep. He awoke when the snake was all the way up and he says: "I just froze until the snake passed on through". After that he said he only slept inside the car.

Python story # 9 - a python's got my dog?:

One of our personal favourite python stories is the family who came home to find a python had swallowed their dog in their back yard however the python had not noticed that the dog was chained up to a post.

Many people don't like to be without a dog in northern Australia as they keep the dog between themselves and the water when walking on the beach in case of crocodile attack.

Python story # 10 - "it scared the hell out of her":

My mate Dave, who lives at Mission Beach, had a 5m python living in his ceiling. Dave was happy for the python to be there and considered it a pet. You could see the plasterboard flexing as the python moved around the ceiling. He also advised guests to keep their bedroom door shut during the night. On one occasion, the python fell out of the ceiling and landed on the floor next his mother in law "it scared the hell out of her" he said. He told us this story in a fit of laughter.

Python story # 11 - a smell that would outlast religion:

In Cairns, we had a python die in the floor framing between ground and first floor. There was no way to know exactly where it was but their was a smell that would outlast religion. In fact, the smell was so bad, we could smell it when we pulled into the driveway. We got some professional advice on a solution which was "you just need to ride it out".