Snakes & Prospecting Safety

[jethro]

No one in Australia has ever died from the bite of a Black Snake..according to Australian medical records..

Only a Chinese gardener in Wangaratta in 1887 and possibly someone in Townsville in 2015 - but not many snakes were identified prior to 1918. Nevertheless, no other blacks known since then (except perhaps the 2015). Amazing how many were tiger snakes and browns, and less were taipans than I expected. I wonder how accurate some identifications were....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_snake_bites_in_Australia

Apparently blacks are one of the most common bites, but are less toxic.

Uni of Melbourne School of biochemical sciences says about black snakes "No deaths have been confirmed in adults, although children have died after bites by this snake".

Way back in the dark ages of 1980 our yr10 school camp was at Howman's Gap near falls creek in Victoria's high country. Back then the High plains Cattlemans Huts were well looked after and frequented by Cattlemen, Hikers and Xcountry Skiers alike, Most had diaries or visitors Books. One particular Hut that we visited had a diary with entries over multiple days of a hiker that had been Bitten by a Red Bellied Black snake. He had decided to wait for help from other hikers rather than chance being caught in the elements and dying of exposure. He made multiple entries in the huts diary and from the deteriorating hand writing it was clear that at the height of the effects of the bite he was quite ill. He must have been shaking quite badly as his writing was very jagged and shakey. It took him about 3to 4 days to get better to the point he could walk out with company.

 

[Thomo]

I used to catch snakes and skin them as a young kid.
Red bellies, browns, tigers and the odd copper head, this was in the alpine area of North east Victoria
I can tell you first hand that they had either frogs or lizards in their gut.
Most snakes hang around creeks rivers and dams

 

[Solid Luck]

Lets all remember that they are protected species.
I love the way this bloke handles things.

[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/myeXMuGJAB8[/video]

 

[jethro]

I used to catch snakes and skin them as a young kid.
Red bellies, browns, tigers and the odd copper head, this was in the alpine area of North east Victoria
I can tell you first hand that they had either frogs or lizards in their gut.
Most snakes hang around creeks rivers and dams

We watched a pair of Copperheads hunting in the yabbie holes in the bank at the Big River Bridge camp ground near GlenWills a few yrs back. One would act as a flusher going into the holes whilst the other one stayed outside. Upset the women a bit as there was 2 of them,,,, to keep an Eye on and they would disappear into these holes and emerge from another a few feet away.

 

[Thomo]

I used to catch snakes and skin them as a young kid.
Red bellies, browns, tigers and the odd copper head, this was in the alpine area of North east Victoria
I can tell you first hand that they had either frogs or lizards in their gut.
Most snakes hang around creeks rivers and dams

We watched a pair of Copperheads hunting in the yabbie holes in the bank at the Big River Bridge camp ground near GlenWills a few yrs back. One would act as a flusher going into the holes whilst the other one stayed outside. Upset the women a bit as there was 2 of them,,,, to keep an Eye on and they would disappear into these holes and emerge from another a few feet away.

There would be a lot of copperheads in that area as well.

My wife and myself used to walk the alpine area around Bogong , Mt Fainter Sometimes taking photos of the Cattlemans huts.
I spotted a hut way down to our right but to get there the track into it was a few hundred meters further down.
I said to my wife follow me l know a short cut and started to meander through the low alpine bushes.
There were copperheads every few meters ducking out of sight very quickly
They were all pretty small being about 2 feet.

Another day on Mt Fainter we come across the biggest copperhead Id seen which was about 5 1/2 feet and At least 2 1/2 or more thick.
He was pretty docile and took his time

 

[Pogo]

Worst spot for Copperheads Ive ever struck was round the western side of Three Mile Dam just out from Kiandra.

Was fishing the dam from a canoe and got out to fish from the bank for a bit.

Bit like the previous poster, there seemed to be a copperhead in the tussocks every 5 or 6 steps. :argh:

Got over my desire for bank fishing fairly quickly and got back in the canoe.

Never seen one at the campground there though.

 

[Nightjar]

A snake catcher was called in a snake released, common sense still does prevail.

https://abc7.com/snake-python-caught-on-camera-in-bed/6413351/

 

[Bush]

Dangerous these suckers are and it says their a Python but i was under the impression All Pythons were non venomous.
Banded Stevens.
Bloke `i` knew died from a bite of one of these.
Google it up but the papers didn`t get the full story.

 

[Nightjar]

More info here, yes dangerous.

https://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+...n+and+dangerous+species/Stephens+Banded+Snake

 

[Smoky bandit]

Relocated quite a few in the last few weeks :lol:

 

[Bush]

Relocated quite a few in the last few weeks :lol:

A few what though ?
Same. ?

 

[Upside]

Red belly blacks are venomous but not fatal like a brown can be. We get our fair share living next to the river, neighbours dogs usually take care of them. Problem out here is all the mice invading from the wheat crops about and mice bring the snakes!

 

[Smoky bandit]

Relocated quite a few in the last few weeks :lol:

A few what though ?
Same. ?

No not that sort.
Usually browns and mostly keelbacks

 

[goody2shoes]

Snake soup yummy

 

[Bush]

Snake soup yummy

Advice ; Do not try carpet snake.
Tougher than old army boots.
Tried a fresh road kill many years ago.
Does not matter how you prep it.
Road Kill Cafe`. oop:

 

[goody2shoes]

Skin them like a ell :lol:

 

[Deepseeker]

I had a mate who killed a brown down near the local creek, and then he cooked it and ate it when I was a kid.

Here's me with a Copperhead from the back step a few years ago. I got carried away with the tenderizing though so it wasn't any good for eating..........

 

[Smoky bandit]

I can hear the snake lovers clanging their pitch forks now mate. :lol: :lol: :Y:

 

[Upside]

I can hear the snake lovers clanging their pitch forks now mate. :lol: :lol: :Y:

Closely related to the shark lover species.

 

[Nightjar]

Many years ago, "The Snake Man" used to display snakes at agricultural shows around WA. (Maybe over east as well)
One demonstration was to show viewers just how fast a King Brown can move.
He tipped the snake out of a bag and teased it with his stick/hook, stepped back and raised the stick to demonstrate how people try to kill snakes.
Before he could bring the stick down to simulate a kill the King was biting his trousers.
Everyone leaning on the enclosure (including me) jumped back in fright seeing how quickly it struck. (That's when he told us it had been recently milked and he used full length protection beneath his trousers & boots.)
He claimed this demonstration was to emphasise the fact many snake bites are the result of people trying to kill snakes.
My detecting partner (I have named the "Snake Lady apart from "Gold Finger") has seen more snakes on the goldfields in 12 years than I have in a lifetime. Generally they are making a fast retreat, probably from the vibrations of her 2300 coil scrubbing the ground.
As already mentioned he claimed snakes were attracted to homes by rats, mice and chooks.