Snakes in the shed!

[woodbe]

One of our customers was looking after a friends Python, and the snake escaped into the dash of the car. It had to go into BMW and have a very expensive remove/replace job done to get it out...

[Jonno L]

Gday Mick,

You're right, they do hitch rides, however it's very uncommon for them to do so, and even more uncommon for them to survive (as you have seen).

I only know of one case of a snake surviving, and it was a Green Tree Snake which came out from underneath the bonnet of a soccer mums four wheel drive, here in Brisbane. She snapped a photo of it going over her windscreen whilst driving down the highway. Now that I think about it, I believe she pulled over and called a snake catcher, who couldn't find the snake, so maybe it didn't survive afterall?

Cheers

Jonno

[silentC]

However, I do find it terribly ironic that both silentC and Vernonv would kill a snake they presumed was venomous to protect their children, yet they both own dogs. Dogs are far less predictable, and definitely WILL attack your children, despite how big/small/well trained/lazy/sooky they are.

Dogs aren't venomous. Have you got stats on fatal family dog attacks vs fatal snake bites? Would be interested to see them.

If I thought there was any chance of our dog inflicting an injury on any kid, it would meet the same fate as the snake, don't doubt that. But don't stop there, I also drive a car and the kids have much more chance of dying in one of them than of being bitten by a snake.

Now maybe you can also explain how you get a pet dog or a 5 year old kid to stand still while a brown snake moves on? Even if I could explain it to my son to the degree that he would understand what he had to do, there's no certainty that he will remember or obey my instructions if the situation ever arose. I'm not taking the chance.

[Vernonv]

Jonno,

What you say about dealing with a snake when you come across one is all well and good if you see it first. My kids (as most do) run around the house without taking much notice of whats in front on them. Now I would expect that if one of them was approaching a snake, at speed, it would cause the snake some distress and hence it might perceive the need to defend itself.

Now I would rather that not happen, so I do what I need to do to keep "my" environment safe.

On the other hand, when the kids are out in the paddock (or the bush), we drum into them to look where they are going and to stand still, if they see a snake (which has happened on numerous occasions). But in this situation we are in "their" environment and must respect that.

[Doughboy]

I for one would rather see a snake than a spider.... not the average Joe spider like a redback or huntsman but the really snarky ones like funnelwebs and whitetails these are better dead than alive.

Mind you a snake can make the heart quicken if you happen upon one in the wrong habitat, (ie curled up on the kitchen floor around your workboots!) Was a mexican standoff the snake won... I backtracked grabbed my runners and went to work in a commercial kitchen with runners on instead of my boots, chef was unimpressed!

Pete

[Buzza]

I submit that Johnno is an expert and a very good one at that. There are few such people on this continet, which is full of snakes, and most of us see the danger in having a venomous snake near us.

"There never was a cowboy that couldn't be throwed, and there never was a horse that couldn't be rode". Almost all snake handlers eventually get bitten, and then go back for more of the same. Of course I don't wish this upon Johnno or anyone else, but we humans do get older and slower. I knew Joe Bredl and saw him handle lots of snakes, but he got bitten just because he put himself among them for a good part of his time.

I think this year holds some sort of record for snake biting humans in Australia. Clean up those yards, sheds and keep pet areas especially clean.

[dazzler]

What a great read.

Top story Mr Dingo.

So I spose the lesson is if we live near snake country have a medical kit and first aid notes handy and do a practice run with the family. If we sees one (or 3) we leaves him alone (stand still) and calls the snake people to come and get him or just watch where he goes.

I like snakes....they kill dumb cats and I just looooooooooove a dead cat .

Here puss puss puss.

[silentC]

If we sees one (or 3) we leaves him alone (stand still) and calls the snake people to come and get him

What do you do if he stands still too?

[rona]

Hi Dingo,
Good story, although to be on the other end a bit scarey too.
Was just thinking last night after reading story, something that n one mentioned, it is obvious they have not just taken up residence and have been there for a while; which means they may be male and female and have a nice nest with about fifteen or sixteen healthy eggs in there! Now if this is the case they could become very protective overnight.
A couple of mates of mine who live on farms have tried a different method of catching them and that is to leave a coil of wire netting rolled up on the ground flattened out a bit in a couple of spots; leave near their main access so they can crawl /slither through it until it becomes tight around their head and body when they have to stop and try to back out, but thats when the trouble starts, the scales raise up and prevents them from moving back.
After two or three days they usually die.
I would not attempt to shoot them in the shed, if you make a boo-boo the snake may have the advantage and get you cornered.
The brown one, I would be more concerned with, could drop down on you when you are working and get you by surprise..................... a little bit
of professional help I think is now required.
OK, there endeth my snake stories for this year, take care and don't take any chances with them because at the end of the day they are bloody fast.
All the best,
Kind Regards,
Ron.

[Jonno L]

Rona,

Please read what you just wrote. Imagine been caught up in wire for days, weeks on end, trying desperately to escape...for no good reason at all? Simply because someone didn't understand you?

Generally if the snake is up high, it's not venomous. On the east coast there are a few arboreal (tree dwelling) venomous snakes, but they shun disturbed habitat.

silentC - I do have some figures around here somewhere. I know that from Jan 1, 2000 until around mid 2006, there were 8 deaths attributed to snake bite, and 40 to horses. I believe it was around 20 to dog attacks, but don't quote me. I will try and find the figures somewhere. You also mention that dogs aren't venomous...maybe not, but they will probably cause more harm than a venomous snake!

I don't understand your comment about keeping your environment safe. If you spot the snake before the kids get to it, you should be able to keep the kids and pets away from it long enough for it to move on, or for a snake removalist to take care of it?

Gday Buzza, You're definitely right about most handlers been bitten! A friend of mine, who you may have seen on TV before, has over 25 bites to his name! He now has to carry injectible adrenaline and antihistamines with him, everywhere he goes, because if he gets bitten by another snake, he only has a few minutes before the acute allergic reaction commences, his throat will tighten and he'll be dead. I carry similar equipment, but only as a precaution.

I have yet to be bitten, which I attribute to 99% good management, and 1% stupidly good luck (had a Coastal Taipan bounce off my forearm a few weeks ago).

dazzler - I'm glad someone detests cats as much as I do! You know, it's no coincidence that cat traps fit perfectly inside a wheelie bin full of water...(this is a joke, I wouldn't do it!)

silentC - If he stands still too, you stand still longer!

Cheers,

Jonno

[silentC]

I don't understand your comment about keeping your environment safe. If you spot the snake before the kids get to it, you should be able to keep the kids and pets away from it long enough for it to move on, or for a snake removalist to take care of it?

That was from Vernon but I'll tackle it. I suppose you could liken it to a pre-emptive strike. A snake that has come into my yard once may do it again and if I go inside to call someone and wait for them to arrive (could be hours here in the bush) it will probably have moved on. If I leave it alone and something happens down the track, I wont forgive myself.

For the record, we've only had one brown snake turn up here in the last year. A labourer was digging a trench for a phone line. He heard a sound behind him and turned around to see the snake coming down the trench behind him. According to witnesses he actually screamed and his second reaction was to belt it over the head with his shovel.

You might be able to correct a couple of myths. Typically we see two types of snake here, one brown and one red-bellied black. The blacks are bigger than the brown but the brown has a reputation for being more aggressive when confronted. People around here say that if you see a brown, kill it, if you see a black, leave it alone because they keep the browns at bay. Now laying aside your obvious aversion to killing them at all, do you reckon there's any truth to any of that?

We used to see black snakes infrequently at my last house, which was about 500m from the surf but backed onto bush. The dead brown was the only snake I've seen here at the new place so far. I see snakes infrequently in the bush but always leave them alone because I figure they have as much right to be there as I do. The last snake I saw in the wild was a diamond python.

[davo_scuba]

we have chickens one side and caged birds the other also have seen rodents in the garden and snake skins at the top of the garden, the other day while cutting the grass came across a 2 ft brown snake about 1 inch in dia, with a 1 year old child who is starting to walk, I just kept on walking with the mower, there is no way I can change what the people are doing either side of me that is attracting the rodents, but at least if i see a snake in my garden it's goonnne!!!!! children are curious at the best of time and i would not like to two to come into contact till they are much much older (or my wife for that matter).
Don't have any pets and are looking to get any, we enjoy the fauna in the back garden (but not the snakes sorry)

[davo_scuba]

we do have a snake at work, out the back here's a pic for you all, we are just happy to look at him every lunch time. he's about 8ft and 80 mm in dia around the middle.

[Jonno L]

That was from Vernon but I'll tackle it. I suppose you could liken it to a pre-emptive strike. A snake that has come into my yard once may do it again and if I go inside to call someone and wait for them to arrive (could be hours here in the bush) it will probably have moved on. If I leave it alone and something happens down the track, I wont forgive myself.

For the record, we've only had one brown snake turn up here in the last year. A labourer was digging a trench for a phone line. He heard a sound behind him and turned around to see the snake coming down the trench behind him. According to witnesses he actually screamed and his second reaction was to belt it over the head with his shovel.

You might be able to correct a couple of myths. Typically we see two types of snake here, one brown and one red-bellied black. The blacks are bigger than the brown but the brown has a reputation for being more aggressive when confronted. People around here say that if you see a brown, kill it, if you see a black, leave it alone because they keep the browns at bay. Now laying aside your obvious aversion to killing them at all, do you reckon there's any truth to any of that?

We used to see black snakes infrequently at my last house, which was about 500m from the surf but backed onto bush. The dead brown was the only snake I've seen here at the new place so far. I see snakes infrequently in the bush but always leave them alone because I figure they have as much right to be there as I do. The last snake I saw in the wild was a diamond python.

There's a lot of myths about snakes, everything from whip snakes milking cows (seriously, come on!), to female brown snakes protecting their nests, to Browns and Carpet Pythons cross-breeding.

One of the most common though, is that if you kill a snake, your property is snake free. Unfortunately that's not the case. Nature works like the ocean, if you take a bucket of water out of the ocean, there's isn't a bucket shaped indent left behind...the rest of the water takes it's place. It's exactly the same with snakes, if you take one away, another will take it's place tomorrow. It's also the same situation with relocating snakes...if you put a snake into a different environment (a "full ocean"), it will upset the balance and "overflow", normally resulting in the relocated snake or animal dying.

I tried to make that as easy to understand as possible.

Like I said earlier, the two most important things are educating everyone about snakes, what to do in case someone is bitten, and what to do to avoid a bite. Take your kids to a local zoo or reptile show and remove the curiousity about what they feel like, how they move etc.

The second is making your backyard an unwelcoming environment for snakes. Humans don't live on Mars because the main factors for human survival aren't present. So, try and make your backyard Mars for snakes!

Cheers

Jonno

[silentC]

if you see a black, leave it alone because they keep the browns at bay

What about this bit though? Is that true or is it bollocks?

I understand your point about the bucket of water in the ocean. What you're saying is that if one snake leaves it's territory another one will take it over. My point is that if the next snake comes into my backyard, he will likely suffer the same fate as the last one

So, try and make your backyard Mars for snakes!

I like that