G'day Charley,

I'm afraid "... the snake,Mute Fate ..." sounds a bit metaphorical (if not metaphysical!) compared the real-world ones I mentioned back in August last year.

Many of our venomous snakes have quite a few vernacular names ... but those tend to be a little more direct that our GUEST's quest (especially when you decided to rest on a long hike, as my father once did, and you sit down on a nice comfortable-looking pile of dried leaves by the track ... to discover you have actually sat on top of the camouflage of loose leaves heaped up over a Death Adder [Acanthorpis antarcticus] waiting to prey on passing small animals. Dad reckoned it would be a toss-up who made the best time in opposite direction - him or the Death Adder!)

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton