A few though like Tiger snakes are still out and about hunting the breeding frogs that croak away around our swamps and waterways.

I hope you are keeping warm...If you missed it sorry but April's Newsletter just didn't happen – hope you enjoy this one.

Staff at the Rainforestation Nature Park initially thought a branch was on the road but on closer inspection realised a massive snake was blocking their way. Being cool the snake was reported to be quite docile.

One tape measure later the Scrub Python Morelia amethistina was found to be over 5 metres long and potentially around 50kg in weight.

However, it has a serious invasive snake problem with non native Boa constrictors (Boa constrictor) consuming too many local bird species. It appears they have been moving around the island by car since the first ones appeared either as escaped pets or from accidental introduction from the mainland of South America.

Rangers believe they feel the heat from parked cars slither up into engine bays and “hitchhike” to another location, spreading faster than would normally be the case.

In a concerted effort to stop the invasion and prevent them from being permanent residents, National Snake hunting days are to be announced with a US$10 bounty per “live” snake handed in. Let’s hope it works.

I love Boas but where they belong - in a rather embarrassing incident in Queensland in April, Surfers Paradise Police officers caught and released a Boa constrictor into local bushland not realising it was an invasive species. Biosecurity Queensland have to date been unable to find or recapture the snake. Better hope it wasn’t pregnant.

Another bit of my past history here. I supplied and handled this Boa constrictor on a photo shoot with Naomi Campbell in London some years ago.

When AAMI did a breakdown of figures a few years ago for a Discovery Channel documentary they found of 500 animal collisions analysed, 444 were kangaroos followed by a few wombats, some wallabies, two koalas and a flock of galahs.

I’ve been lucky I think over the years, I have had two scary but near miss incidents with cattle, many kangaroos have bounded past just in time but I will admit to hearing the odd clunk and finding a few small bird remains or patches of feathers on the front of the car. Once hitting a swarm of locusts the car air intake grill was absolutely packed with bits. So I have never had an insurance claim for an animal related collision. How about you?

The Pink Iguana was missed by Darwin in 1835 and by well everyone else until 1986 when one was first spotted by a park ranger, who dismissed it assuming it was just a curiously coloured specimen far away from its mates. However Pink Iguanas have flat head scales and a fatter crest on the back of their necks. Scientists studied its genes and decided it is a new species - The Pink Iguana (Conolophus marthae).

They live only near the ridge of the Wolf Volcano on the Island of Isabela. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN ) Red List of Threatened Species has them as a critically endangered species because of small population size, limited range (25km²) and living on the edge of an active volcano that in the last few days has begun erupting again.

Come and visit me and our creatures at the Animal Ark stand, bring family and friends along as well. Last time some 5,000 attended so put it in your diary and come and see some great creatures and have a family day out.

A complex camouflaging pattern of iridescent olive – yellow to brown with irregular black or brown bands helps these snake merge with the rainforest floor. These pythons inhabit coastal rainforest in Northern Queensland but are also found on Torres Strait Islands, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

They are found in scrubby habitats (hence the name) but also denser rainforest. Seeming to hunt mainly on the ground and around water, they are very able swimmers. Items of prey include marsupial mammals, bats, birds and even tree kangaroos. Nearer human habitation they are noted to take domestic dogs, cats and poultry. Eight to sixteen eggs are laid and juveniles measure around 61cm upon hatching.