Ever get the strange feeling you are being watched? Today I sat deep in concentration working on assignments when that feeling crept over me. Looking out my third floor window, I found a baby green tree snake staring back in at me. For a few moments it sat perfectly still, apart from its little tongue poked out at me vibrating frantically in the air. As I fumbled for a camera to capture the moment, the bright green baby wound its way back through the branch and into a hollow in the tree trunk. I spent the better part of the afternoon watching for it to return. But my back to nature moment was over.
My possum neighbour
It wasn’t long either before the inner city daily noise took over. Helicopters and ambulances racing to the hospital down the end of the street, children playing in the car park and in a unit block nearby someone practiced their opera singing. But my moment with the tree snake got me thinking about how un-inner city my apartment complex can be. For starters there is the possum that lives in the pot plant on my balcony. Now that winter is on its way, my possum friend spends most of its days in my ceiling space to try to stay warm. Then there are the assortment of spiders that have taken up residence throughout the stairwell, my balcony and in the tops of trees. Lastly, are the bush turkeys. Regularly I’ll walk through the car park to find one scouring the gardens. Yesterday one was hiding at the end of the path leading out of my building. I’m not sure who jumped higher in fright, when we stumbled across each other, me or the bush turkey.
So on Earth Day 2012 I am pleasantly reminded that even in amongst the chaos of traffic and high density living, the natural wildlife still thrives. That my animal neighbours haven’t been wiped out to make way for urban renewal, tunnels and taller buildings.
