Great snakes! Watch where you sit...

Funny how the job advertisements at these mines in Outback Australia always skim over the 'small' things, like having to live with hundreds of other sweaty, dirty men, paying a fortune to live in a caravan and...having to fish deadly snakes out of toilets!

This sequence of photos is doing the rounds in Australia, and supposedly harks from an unnamed workplace in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

This fierce creature was found tucked up under the toilet, hovering just above the S-bend - thankfully before the photographer settled down on the seat.

Perhaps a redback spider would have been preferable after all!

And for the snake-phobic, there is really only one way to deal with such an inconvenience...but wouldn't have been easier going behind a bush?

No word on the snake's fate.

Monster pig no hoax - 2009 deja vu!

Doing the rounds since 2009, this powerful porker has captured the imaginations of many web surfers, however its sheer size has lead many people to label it a hoax.

In fact, the photograph is genuine.

At least that is what The Mercury newspaper in Tasmania is saying about this photo, rumoured to be of Pilbara pastoralist John Anick and his 'catch of the day' photograph snapped three years ago.

The 220kg beast was reportedly eating a cow when first seen by workers mustering cattle in a helicopter in Western Australia.

The paper said Mr Anick saw the beast again on a trip to check windmills on the property and shot it.

"I can vouch 100 per cent that it (the photo) was taken in the Pilbara and it is who I said it is," a source close to the Anick family said.

Back in 2009, WA authorities were clamouring to declare the photograph a hoax. Funnily enough, the Pilbara-Anick connection was also made in 2009 by an equally mysterious source - so we're not sure why it's news again this week. Perhaps it just takes a little bit longer for some stories to filter down south!

Anyway, if it's legit, then big cats and yowies aren't the only creatures to look out for in the Australian bush!

Red Dog - the legend of Karratha

We just couldn't pass up recommending this latest Australian cinematic offering - a film inspired by a book written about a real dog who won the hearts of everyone who crossed his path.

His name was Red Dog.

Red Dog (1971 – November 20, 1979) was a Kelpie/Cattle dog cross which was well-known for his travels through Western Australia's Pilbara region. There is a statue in his memory in Dampier, which is one of the towns to which he often returned.

Red Dog as played by the adorable Koko.

Red Dog is believed to have been born in the town of Paraburdoo in 1971 and had a variety of names to those who knew him, including: Bluey, Tally Ho, and Dog of the Northwest. Tally Ho was his first name, given to him by a man called Colonel Cummings, who is believed to have been his first owner and the one who brought him to Dampier. The nickname 'Red Dog' has been attributed to the red dirt of the Pilbara Region. His second owner was John Stazzonelli, a truck driver with Hamersley Iron, whose work allowed Red to travel as far as Perth, Broome, Roebourne, Point Samson and Port Hedland.

Following John's death in 1975, Red spent a lot of time traveling on his own although he was taken in by many members of the community and a veterinarian who treated him. Red was made a member of the Dampier Salts Sport and Social Club and the Transport Union. He was also given a bank account with Wales Bank, which is said to have used him as a mascot and sales tool with the slogan, "If Red banks at the Wales, then you can too".

Although he had many friends, it is believed that his death in 1979 was caused by deliberate strychnine poisoning. Red is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere between Dampier and Karratha.

Soon after Red's death, Australian Author Nancy Gillespie wrote and compiled anecdotes and poetry written by several people of the Pilbara region for her book, Red Dog, as did Beverly Duckett in her 1993 book, Red Dog : the Pilbara wanderer.

Red Dog's story and statue have caught the attention of a number of people passing through Dampier including British author Louis de Bernières, who was inspired to write a book loosely based on Red's legend, Red Dog.

A feature film about Red Dog, based on de Bernières' novel, has been made in Australia, and is now playing at cinemas everywhere.

New mini frog species discovered in Pilbara

Researchers have discovered a new miniature frog species in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The  researchers from the Australian National University in Canberra, the Western Australia Museum and the University of Western Australia in Perth discovered the new toadlet after they conducted genetic analysis on the various frog species found in the dry region.

The new species, called the Pilbara toadlet (Uperoleia saxatilis), measures just two centimeters long and is found in the rocky gorges and creeks of the arid region.

Lead researcher and PhD student from ANU, Renee Catullo said the new toadlet is unique for its species.

"It has big glands and it has brown spots all over it, it also has a different call from all the other species," she said.

"It actually lives in rocky landscapes instead of sandy soils, so it's a burrowing frog that's adapted to live in a different type of landscape."

Researchers used genetic techniques to identify the new species from its better known northwest cousins.

The new discovery has proven that the deserts of Australia are teeming with life. The barren landscape could still hold new species that scientists haven't found yet.

“Little is known about this small, brown creature but it has been found following cyclonic rains and occurs in rocky gorges and creeks of the region. The good news is that it appears to be secure from a conservation perspective," she said.

“Toadlets are native to Australia and this new species brings the total number to 27, the second largest group of frog species in the country."

The discovery was part of a research project funded by the Herman Slade Foundation that uses genetic techniques to try and understand the true number of species of toadlets.

“Genetic techniques are increasingly being used to identify new species across Australia that use calls, pheromones, or behaviour to tell each other apart,” Ms Catullo said.

“In these cases genetic techniques can tell us which groups are interbreeding, even when it’s hard to visually differentiate them."