The Koalas

Has anyone had a close encounter with a snake? I can cope with the spiders, I bomb the house or spray and do not get problems with them, but snakes are a different thing. I went out the back garden when living in Jimboomba and a green tree snake was making a hasty retreat from the back door. Then as we were leaving for work another day we saw a big Brown snake going across the drive. Now, we live down on the Gold Coast in a residential area and thought we would be relatively ok, but it seems not, today I went in the back garden (if you can call it that) and there was a dead, Red bellied black snake!!!! It looked like a kookaburra had a go at it and left it behind when I disturbed it. It was only a baby snake which may mean there is a nest somewhere around There is no quick cure for getting rid of snakes and it's a matter of bieng careful.

I read on one site that the red belly is dangerous:

"The Red Bellied Black Snake is a dangerous snake species found in Australia. It is a red bellied snake, and black on top, hence the name. It inhabits mainly the east coast of Australia, close to a source of water. They can grow up to 1.5 metres in length. This snake usually gives birth to about 20 live snakes at one time.

The bite of a Red Bellied Black Snake is very dangerous and requires immediate medical attention."

iPom

A red belly is only really a threat to a young child or an elderly person. They don't usually kill a person who's fit and healthy, though you'd be sick for a few days. They'd give you anti venom in hospital.
I nearly trod on one a few months ago, walking the dog, but noticed it just in time...

I wouldn't worry about it. Snakes are very shy and if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone.

Sue2

Had one for a few weeks appearing in our front garden, got the snake man out to check if there was any nest....nothing thank god! We also had a dead baby brown snake in our back garden! friends of ours live in Burleigh had a brown snake in there garden too.

All the best
Sue x

themerlin

I think statistically you have got more chance of being killed by a donkey

cresta57

The girl that works our local club bar was bitten three times by a Black Whip Snake. She was bitten Saturday lunchtime, the snake was killed by her dog just after the third bite so was positively identified later at the hospital, she spent the night in the hospital and was back to do her shift at 2pm on the Sunday.
Black Whips are often mistaken for Red Bellied Blacks neither are fatal if treatment is administered to a normal healthy adult.
She's a Kiwi so built from tough stuff
We see quite a few snakes up here, the Kookaburras got one a couple of days ago and made a real fuss letting us know they'd done a good turn

DunRoaminTheUK

My wife thought she saw a snake in our bed last night, whilst I was asleep, but it turned out to be a false alarm.........She said that at first glance it had taken on the appearance of an anaconda wearing an ecclesiastical bishops hat?

iPom

I hope she took a knife to it and clubbed it hard with a mallet just to be sure.

You can never be too careful imo.

DunRoaminTheUK

Yeah....and strangely enough, that's the exact same time that I woke up......

The Koalas

FFS don't say things like that, where I take the dog a walk is a donkey!!! It glares at us as we pass the field. Thats it now, I will not worry about the wellies to protect my legs from bites in the grass, just make sure I take the cattle prod for the donkey.

DunRoaminTheUK

I've heard that the QLD government is thinking of erecting "Donkey Nets", which means that the provisioning of water has had to be de-prioritised to make way for this urgent new task.

bridie

Personally I am more concerned with the crap driving and the constant deaths and injuries on the roads, a far more likely prospect than being bitten by a snake

themerlin

Problem with donkey nets is that they can trap innocent horses

themerlin

Beware !

DunRoaminTheUK

Unless of course you happen to drive into an abandoned car full of snakes?