Browsing my Trove tags for this week’s post, the tag “Snake sixteen feet” attracted my attention. The item was this snippet from The Argus of 29 February 1864 (obviously a leap year).
CRIMINAL SESSIONS. (1864, February 29). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1956), p. 6. Retrieved January 22, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5744916
Since I’ve seen two snakes this season after going many years without having seen one, the sixteen-foot snake seemed like an appropriate Trove Tuesday subject. I searched Trove for “snake sixteen feet”. I then narrowed the results down to 1864 but first I noted how many articles came up with the words “snake sixteen feet”. A lot actually, making me think that just like hailstones are always the “size of golf balls”, snakes were once always sixteen feet long.
I did find more about the snake that was making its presence felt at Mount Fyans Station north of Mortlake.
THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. (1864, February 23). The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 – 1864), p. 4. Retrieved January 22, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72513798
I wonder if they ever did get to measure the “monster”?
Western District Families 
Ugh, a 16 foot snake (what’s that about 4 metres?) is not one I’d want to meet, and I saw plenty as a child. Although I really dislike snakes I still feel a bit sad that a creature which had survived so long was to be “done in”.
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Yes I think it is around 4 metres. That’s long. I agree, I hoped it lived.
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