What I See with Peter Fiorenza: The Bluff Point love story of Betty and Bob is a tail of reptilian romance

Today I want to tell you about a special romance that has been happening for some time in the suburb of Bluff Point. It’s about a couple — Betty and Bob. Now, Betty and Bob aren’t your usual romantic couple in the midday movie sense, nor a couple you might read about in a classic novel written by one of the Bronte sisters. In fact, it’s more of a story that would belong in National Geographic or a David Attenborough documentary. Betty and Bob are bobtail skinks. Yes, this is a story about those scaly creatures that emerge close to the start of summer and spend their time in the shady areas of our verandahs, mostly minding their own business. Well, according to my friend Elissa, Betty and Bob have made her verandah their summer hideaway for quite a number of years. “Yes, I’ve known Bob and Betty for some time now,” she said. “It all started one sunny afternoon when I spied a young Betty making her way to and under the leaves of the mango tree in the corner of the garden.” Elissa said she would watch Betty come and go, then one day she heard a bit of a loud rustle under the mango tree, she pulled back the leaves to reveal Betty and another bobtail in a compromising position. “That was the day I first met Bob,” Elissa said. So began several years of reptilian romance under the mango tree. So, Elissa’s mango tree has not just been the scene of the kissing and cuddling of Betty and Bob, but also the birth of little Betty and Bobs too. And according to my friend, bobtail skinks don’t lay eggs, but give birth to live young, and she has been privy to watch this happen. “Betty and Bob have become part of my family along with our cats and dogs, coming back every year, at the same time, to happily make camp under the mango tree,” Elissa said. One day a few years ago, a neighbour knocked on Elissa’s front door to tell her a bobtail had been run over on the road at the bottom of the street. “They were worried it was Betty or Bob. I was beside myself and as I welled up with tears, I rushed out to the mango tree. Relief swept through my body when I saw both Betty and Bob walk out from under the leaves,” Elissa said, still showing some emotion. This is, indeed, a special romance that stretches far beyond the mango tree and has endured the test of time. But, wait — in recent weeks there has been a development out at Bluff Point. According to Elissa, the romance may be on the rocks. The other day, she pulled back the leaves to find Betty in a compromising position, but not with Bob. OMG — Betty had found another mate and to add insult to injury, Bob was looking on from behind another cluster of leaves. It would seem romance under the mango tree has become a little complicated. Peter Fiorenza hosts Sports Shed Saturday (9am to noon) and Fiorenza on Sunday (10am-noon) on Radio MAMA and Radio Geraldton