51�Թ�

“It was like I was carrying them around with me for years, on my back. When the apology came it was like the weight shifted and I felt light. To me it was like they were set free — dad to return as a red-bellied black snake, and mum to fly away as the wedge-tailed eagle,” a central figure in Aboriginal mythology.

For the Bundjalung of north-east New South Wales, it is the gunggayay, or red-bellied black snake.

A snake catcher in Australia has snared a huge red-bellied black snake, dubbed “Chonk” because of its sturdy appearance.

Tim Faulkner from the Australian Reptile Park released the red-bellied black snake by gently cutting it free.

A telephone technician spotted a deadly red-bellied black snake tightly wrapped around a pipe he was inspecting, and there have been unconfirmed reports of a bull sharks in the main street of Goodna, a suburb in Ipswich, a town west of Brisbane.