Brown snake!!! :-)
 

14 years in Australia and my first bona fide sighting of a lethal animal (valid assumption?) in the 'wild':

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1004-00038.jpg

I wasn't willing to get any closer for the photo opportunity but he was about 6-8ft long, as thick as your wrist and happily wriggling away across the road, along the gutter and up onto the pavement.

There were 2 middle aged women trying to encourage me to run over it in the car with the whole "only good snake is a dead snake" mantra - but I'm not so keen to destroy an interesting and easily avoided bit of fauna.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Chances are the thing would have got wrapped up in your suspension

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Nice snake:

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Don't ever run them over, not unless you fancy giving it a free ride home ;)

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Where was that? We've had some around the office in Banyo.. :eek:

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Murarrie (lots of nearby swampland with suitable birds, amphibians and rodents to feed on)

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

I doubt it was anywhere near 8 feet but a nice looking snake. I have been called out in the past to catch a huge deadly snake at least 10 feet long to find a Carpet Python about 3 feet long at best. Rather than advise others not to run over a snake because it might get tangled up in the car its possibly best to discourage it because it is illegal to deliberately hurt a protected animal. Im amazed this was the first venomous snake you have seen in all those years, quite an achievement :)

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

It was still in the same spot when I left work 4 hours later - and although I didn't straighten it out to measure it I'm standing by the original estimate made when it was tracking down the curb and reasonably stretched out. Definately in excess of 6ft so 6-8ft seems a reasonable category to place it in

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

That's fair enough it is just that an 8 foot snake really is huge.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Agreed - its a big MOFO, perhaps we can settle on "6ft+" as a description?

Reviewing that picture it does seem relatively fat and short compared to the pythons Ive had around the yard a few times (accurately measured via discarded skins @8ft) so perhaps I'm projecting unreasonably for this brown beastie based on its impressive girth?

Either way I'm spectacularly impressed that he was still there at the end of the day. I hope he hadn't been run over and was just lying there dying? (he still appeared to be in tact. - but I didn't get too close)

I'll check again tomorrow morning!

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Are you sure it isn't dead already? The only still snakes I've seen have been dead.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Ok... so you question the validity of an 8 foot snake but you say you were called out to deal with a ten foot one.I think your just a black cat merchant.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

It was pretty clear from the post that "huge deadly snake 10 feet long" was what the caller said, and that it in fact turned out to be smaller.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Well I checked snake about 2 metres from my wife when she was sitting under tree by the river. It was also brown on top with a green side/belly. About 40cm long and very thick for its body length, about 4cm in diameter. The tail tapered off quickly. It slinked off into the undergrowth before I could get a photo.

Can't ID it from this website.

http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/Snake_Identification_and_Infomation.html

Anyway, first wild live snake siting in Oz.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

No I'm not sure but it did move to have its head hanging off the gutter by the time I left. it definitely seemed healthy when I first saw it. I pulled up short of running over it in the car as it was coiled on the road, then as I parked up it uncoiled, headed to the gutter and moved 10m or so down the road before jumping up the gutter, gagging about on the grass a bit and the settling down.

4 hours later he was on the same stretch of grass.

dead? Perhaps, I don't whether he was already injured by the time I saw him.

For the record I've seen a few perfectly still snakes before; basking, sorting themselves out....

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Yes it seemed very clear indeed. :thumbup:

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Yes I would accept 6 feet :D
Just a word of advice when measuring shed skins, they stretch a minimum of 25% so a shed skin measuring 8 feet would come from a snake something like 6 feet in length and probably smaller. :)

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Snake looks 7+ feet to me...



lol

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

However long he may have been (which ultimately is beside the point isnt it? It was a decent sized snake, capable of dispensing a very serious amount of damage to anyone who chose to get on the sharp end) - he's not there today.

So - either someone picked up and disposed of his body [I'd suggest very carefully], or he wasnt dead, he was resting and has since slithered off elsewhere to go about his snakely duties...

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Fits the description of a skink, such as this one:
http://www.wildlifeqld.com.au/Verreaux.html

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

yeah, I was in the garden a year or so ago with my little ones running around when one of them yelled snake. I came running over with the shovel and got them away from the area. It looked very similar to that photo in that link, but the legs were invisible, so I took a split second decision to terminate it. It was only after I killed it and turned it over that you could just make out very very tiny little legs (but you had to hold it very close to make them out).

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Well I am disappointed.

Huntsman - smaller than I realised - I was led to believe they were, like, dinner plates.

Snakes - thick as your wrist - I thought they would be twice that.

I blame the children's books I read....

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

:nod: The only one I've seen was curled up by the side of a bush path. I knocked my neighbour over as I spun around and started running away and she was calling after me, "It's dead, you know!"

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

So do you kill any snake or snake-like creature that comes into your vicinity without knowing what it is?

You do realise that quite a few are actually protected by law, including some deadly ones? In a worst case scenario you should be calling a snake-catcher to remove one.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

ALL are protected by law, it makes little difference as I cant recall anyone ever being prosecuted for killing one, just one of those useless laws than noone takes any notice of. Anyway, harmless lizard, dangerous snake, near enough.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

No, quite the opposite actually. I have a live policy 99% of the time, but when there are potentially deadly animals living in my very small yard when my very small children are around I do take that policy. If it was a dangerous snake that time, it might have just decided to take up residence somewhere in my yard therefore increasing the likelihood of coming into contact again with my kids.

My in-laws live on a property where a brown snake has taken up residency under the outdoor washing machine. They take the same policy, if it is out in the paddocks they leave them alone, however if it comes into their living quarters they destroy them to avoid learned behaviour. I don't agree with needless killing of animals, however when the chances of safety of your family are high because of it I understand it

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Ah. An interesting fact is that of the about 2 people a year who die of snake bites in Australia, they were either trying to handle them or kill them.

What is wrong with simply leaving it be and go away as long as it's not in the house? In which case call a bloody snake-catcher.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

....a harmless lizard that just so happens to move like a snake and has barely visible legs, hence why it is so commonly confused with a snake. My decision to terminate it was a split second decision based on my small kids running around in that area and something I am unapologetic for. The alternative was to let it be and watch it go and then spend the next weeks/months wondering when my kids might come into contact with it again. Or call the snake handler and wait the hour or so for them to get there by which time the creature is long gone.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

do you actually live in Aus? I assume not. I also assume that you do not have young kids still too young to know not to try and pick a snake up?

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

No, currently I don't (nearly there though). But before you give me any more of the you don't know what it's like attitude - as a child I lived in India and as a grown up I have worked outdoors in Sri Lanka, Syria and Africa. So yes, I know what snakes are and have seen plenty of deadly ones in my life, close and not so close. This does not change my basic attitude.

Snakes are generally not keen on humans and will avoid them where possible. Especially where small children are involved they will duck and slither away quickly in most cases, due to the noise. No I don't have small children, but in that case I'd have grabbed them and moved them inside for a bit and made a regular thing of telling and explaining to them not to touch or pick up.

Also, I might point out that I am not terribly keen on snakes - so this isn't coming from a snake lover.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Thanks. It was defo a snake. and the tail taper off more. My have been preggas.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

so you would be all too aware then that QLD is home to one of the most aggressive snakes on earth, in the Coastal Taipan? One that will actually attack if you so much as come within any close proximity. My point about you not being in Aus is more about the proximity of resources. Calling out a snake catcher is not as simple as making a call and waiting 5 mins for him to arrive. Mine would be a minimum of an hour wait by which time that snake is in a nice hiding place.

I am actually a snake lover. I educate myself as much as I can about them. I have a ridiculous amount of books on the subject and in the wilderness I treat them with the respect they deserve. However, I do not love them as much as I love my children, so if a choice needs to be made between the safety of my children or that of a snake then it is a fairly easy decision to make

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

An extremely high % of bites are due to someone trying to kill a snake, unprovoked bites are incredibly rare.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

I missunderstood that comment then. Sorry. As for the inaccessability of resources, fair enough, although the snake catcher would only feature for me when a snake is in the house or really has set up shop in the direct vicinity. Plenty of noise should mostly drive them away. Also, not having any open water sources on your property helps keep them away. My uncle noticed that the Brown snakes would come and drink out of the water bowls of their pets.

Glad to hear you keep yourself informed. I do understand the dilemma of protecting the children, but still feel in 99.9% of the cases there is a non-lethal solution.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Unfortunately with them being deaf the noise isnt an issue for them but venomous snakes especially tend to avoid areas with lots of activity, the non venomous pythons will happily settle in places with lots of activity as they arent as highly strung as the majority of venomous snakes.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

I know you said that it was definitely a snake... but could it have been one of these perhaps?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egernia_major


If not, then it might be one of these. Death adder. Very unlikely though.

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200806/r260601_1083484.jpg

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

I reckon it was a Common Tree Snake.

http://www.arod.com.au/arod/pictures...atus-thumb.jpg

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

I've seen a fair few of them around the traps. However they are very thin and slender, and certainly do not get as fat as the one you described.
I was lucky to get a beautiful photo of one of these in attack mode going for me. I was at a wedding at the Hyatt in Yeppoon, when I just looked down outside the chapel and noticed about a foot of snake poking out of a drain cover. I kept my distance until I was safe in the knowledge of what type it was and then also understanding that it was stuck. It had obviously gone down there to feed on a frog or something else and had become too fat to get itself back out again.
So after a few more minutes of gauging how far out it could get, I got close enough so that I could get a good shot but not get bitten and the result was the snake trying to dart for me, but not having the reach to get me.

My favourite snake encounter was on an island off the coast of the New Caledonia mainland. There were sea snakes everywhere. You literally couldn't walk more than 10m without seeing one, and their colours and nature were amazing! Such docile and inquisitive snakes, yet extremely deadly if they need to be. One came swimming right up to me when I was in the water, no more than about a foot away from my arm before I decided that was about as close as I wanted to be and swam away

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

Snakes definitely prefer to stay away from humans. I have only seen one or two in my life and always lived on the edge of bushland and walk in the bush/forest quite regularly. They are around in numbers but not easily encountered contrary to popular beliefs.

The trouble starts when housing development sprawls out into snake habitat, especially in open grassland near swamps and marshes which is common on the fringe of many Australian cities. A lot of this sort of land exists on the Melbourne metro fringe and there are a lot of Copperhead snakes that sometimes cause trouble. Plenty of snake catchers around and they get called out quite a bit. Very few people get bitten.

Re: Brown snake!!! :-)
 

I saw a brown coloured snake cross my path in my first year here, and I've always wondered if it was a "brown" snake. I don't think it was anywhere near as big or long as the one in the picture - do they come up smallish as well?? Other than that, in nearly ten years all I've seen is a range of dodgy spiders.