I grew up in North Queensland, in the northeast corner of Australia. It’s tropical up there, north of the Tropic of Capricorn, but south of the Equator. About the same latitude as Lima, Peru, or a little south of Recife in Brazil. Some relatives grew sugar cane and raised cattle and Gourmet Jack would visit as a kid. It was not unusual to go fishing or looking for mud crabs in the saltwater creeks that laced part their property. My uncle was usually barefoot and only attired in shorts and a singlet.
An everlasting visual memory is him tending a fire, to cook crabs we just caught in the creek, with his bare foot, kicking the hot coals back into the fire. Very spectacular to a kid!!! The second was in the cane field after they burnt the leaves and undergrowth to make it easier to harvest the cane. The fire would chase all the critters out of the cane onto the tracks in between the fields, including some venomous black whip snakes 3-4 feet long. This is one of Australia’s fastest moving snakes and adults need to be treated with caution. My uncle detested the snakes, and would stop the pick-up, get out, and quietly approach the snake. The snake would watch intently as he positioned himself near the snakes tail. Without a sound, he makes a lightning fast grab for the snake at just the right spot on the tail, pulls it up and cracks it like a whip, and the snake’s head goes flying off! This is a hard act to follow and sight not easily forgotten. Now I call that macho!
Now have you tasted snake? I had rattlesnake once and I can tell you for sure, it tastes like chicken. I can also say, with nary a doubt, my uncle wouldn’t be caught dead (ha!) eating his headless snake!
