Python Sips From Drainpipe as Rain Hits Queensland, Australia
Following a period of drought, the arrival of rain in Logan City, Queensland, was welcomed by one of the area’s reptile residents, as video posted to Facebook on October 24 shows.
Alison Lonergan captured footage on a family property showing the snake in question drinking from a drainpipe at the side of the house as rain pelted the region.
She told Storyful that the area had been without rain “for months,” adding that “relying on tank water meant rationing” of water until the arrival of the “summer rains.”
The family had noticed that the inland carpet python featured in the video had been “hanging on our back verandah for a few nights, keenly sizing up the possum duo that eats fruit and veg nightly from our hands.”
Once the rain began, and with some of the family’s younger members enjoying newly formed puddles, Lonergan said her father sounded a warning that a snake was nearby.
“It was this little fella (we have a bigger one residing in the shed), coming out of slumber to get a drink,” she said. “He would have been out there for 15 minutes and went straight back to sleep after the rain slowed.” Lonergan added, “we haven’t seen this kind of behavior before,” and it was “very cool” to see in person.
According to the Melbourne Museum, inland carpet pythons are “largely harmless and are natural enemies of pests such as introduced mice and rats.” Credit: Alison Lonergan via Storyful
