Snakes & Prospecting Safety

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Hey H.U. best not to tromp thru those places I reckon. a 6 feet snake can strike in an instant. boots and gaiters may not be enough.
 
A couple of weeks ago, we were alerted to a 5' brown just off our verandah by our mini foxy (not our loved Jacko who sadly died at 16 last Christmas eve). It slithered away when the dog ran and barked. A few days later the boys had arrived home at about 5pm from a trip to Narrabri and the foxy sniffed around under the ute and was quite agitated. Again, he had spotted another snake on top of the fuel tank. Son quickly took a photo but with all the commotion, the snake disappeared and they spent over an hour with spotlights with no luck.

We hoped the snake had gone off into the bush but the next day, the foxy barked again and there it was, the same horrible black/grey, again right below our verandah. Measured it and it was about 5'. A lot of research and talking with others and we believe it was a western brown.

So 3 snake alerts in as many days by the great little dog we got from an animal rescue. Thank goodness for the dog and also that we had no grandchildren here at the time. Last year we had a small red belly black in the loungeroom, obviously came onto the verandah and then inside. Luckily I closed the sliding door on it (nice picture too).
 
Biggest problem with going overboard with snake protection is once you're wearing an almost full body suit one starts to get complacent, thinking that their protection will avoid them getting bitten. They concentrate less on the situation at hand and venture further in to the snakes favorite domains, inadvertently putting themselves at higher risk than they normally would.

You've got more chance of being bailed up by a pack of wild dogs on several gold fields....but still that doesn't mean we should all carry a gun for protection.

Common sense and being conscious that snakes, scorpions, centipedes, funnel webs, etc, also share our domain is all that is required. We have to keep it all in perspective, otherwise enjoying the great outdoors would be best achieved by sitting on the couch and watching Nat Geo channel docs. :| ....Unless of course you live at Jacko's place, where he gets Red Belly Blacks in the lounge room as well. :eek:
 
Jacko said:
We hoped the snake had gone off into the bush but the next day, the foxy barked again and there it was, the same horrible black/grey, again right below our verandah. Measured it and it was about 5'. A lot of research and talking with others and we believe it was a western brown.
Click to expand...

if its black / grey it may have been a RBB that was starting to drop its skin
 
Nugget said:
Can anyone tell me if our snakes commonly strike above knee height on a standing person?

The reason I ask is that I usually wear a pair of knee high Quagmire Canvas Gaiters http://www.seatosummit.com.au/products/gaiters/quagmire-canvas-gaiters/ which have been great, but I'm wondering if this enough protection and if I should upgrade to full length snake-proof chaps.
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Old thread but an important one down south at this time of year. Not sure though if anyone can make gaiters to hold this monster :8 at bay let alone build'em tough enough to resist his fangs.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/brisbane-news-monstrous-18-metre-redbellied-black-snake-captured/9096f52c-2030-45bc-85c5-260771c6db93
 
Yep, I'd say this one could sink its fangs into you anywhere it wanted regardless of how high your gaiters are. It's also another good reason to carry a couple of snake bite bandages with you while you detect. I've never seen a Red-Bellied Black snake that big before, it's a beautiful looking creature though.
 
apparently most bites from a free snake occur below the knee, with the 2nd most common on the hand or arm because a/ the person tried to catch it, or b/ they had their hand down close to the ground or in bushes.
Obviously if a snake is on a ledge, rock, branch, in a shrub etc, it could get you nearly anywhere.
If you're really worried & in a high risk area, in the USA they have 'Bob Allen Snake Chaps', shouldn't be too hard to buy some out of the USA, or find something similar.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...AYQEg#imgrc=EV4Q42Q8YVEF0M:&spf=1569414526505
These ones from Clogger here in Au are fairly high
https://clogger.com.au/clogger-snak...MI-Jukx_zr5AIVgpWPCh1TGQQeEAQYASABEgJgJvD_BwE
I use gaitors with polyethylene sheet in them, from Reeds Prospecting here in WA, but they only just reach the bottom of my knee. I try to avoid stepping on the blighters :cool:
 
I believe if your bitten on a limb you need to keep at least the affected limbs movement to a minimum.

"It's a myth that snake venom gets straight into your blood stream after a bite. Instead, it moves through your lymphatic system. Lymph is a fluid in your body that contains white blood cells. Unlike blood, which is pumped around your body continuously, your lymph moves when you move your limbs."
 
Ded Driver said:
apparently most bites from a free snake occur below the knee, with the 2nd most common on the hand or arm because a/ the person tried to catch it, or b/ they had their hand down close to the ground or in bushes.
Obviously if a snake is on a ledge, rock, branch, in a shrub etc, it could get you nearly anywhere.
If you're really worried & in a high risk area, in the USA they have 'Bob Allen Snake Chaps', shouldn't be too hard to buy some out of the USA, or find something similar.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...AYQEg#imgrc=EV4Q42Q8YVEF0M:&spf=1569414526505
These ones from Clogger here in Au are fairly high
https://clogger.com.au/clogger-snak...MI-Jukx_zr5AIVgpWPCh1TGQQeEAQYASABEgJgJvD_BwE
I use gaitors with polyethylene sheet in them, from Reeds Prospecting here in WA, but they only just reach the bottom of my knee. I try to avoid stepping on the blighters :cool:
Click to expand...

So True DD, it's worth remembering too that if you are detecting in scrub that some snakes are well known to climb up in bushes or trees looking for prey (I've known of Tigers doing it in time of drought), and also if you detect gullies and creek beds you can very easily have them at head or neck level on the bank as you walk along concentrating on whats down at your feet.
 
goldierocks said:
Colmaca said:
most Aussie snakes can't effectively bite through denim, loose Just makes lots of noise they run first.
Click to expand...
Correct. The huge fangs of vipers that you see photos of, and which can penetrate through all sorts of protective gear, are snakes that do not occur in Australia (Viperidae). The eastern brown is responsible for 60% of deaths in Australia but its fangs are only 3 mm long, tiger snakes 3.5 mm - so they won't bite through anything substantial. The taipan can have fangs of 1.2 cm - but think what that looks like (hard to get much penetration through a pair of boots or chaps). Unless you are a coastal Queenslander you are unlikely to be bitten by a coastal taipan, although the inland taipan hangs around a different but still restricted area (SW Qld, northern SA, NW NSW - circling east, north and west of Lake Eyre). The odds of being seriously bitten (penetrated by fangs) from an Australian snake are very small if you are wearing some sort of protection - you don't really need truck tyres wrapped around your legs (bloody hot and awkward to wear all day in desert heat). I have fairly light protection to just below my knees, and I usually wear them working in tall grass etc along streams and in swampy areas - few snakes will bite higher than that and life is dangerous anyway - about as likely as being killed by a falling satellite. About 3000 people are bitten per year but only one or two die - more than 90% of those bitten either accidentally trod on a snake or fooled around with them (eg trying to kill them) - so tread loudly and leave them alone if possible. Main things if bitten is to try and not move around, and wrap the limb firmly but not too tightly in a roller bandage. You don't have to identify the snake with the anti-venine we have now, and by minimising movement (a good reason for not working alone) the venom will take a long time to get from your lymphatic system to your bloodstream - you would be very unlucky to have direct injection into your blood stream. Most people would survive untreated if kept still and calm for long enough - but I don't recommend it. I have been with two people when bitten - one was bitten by a huge taipan in Africa, and survived with rapid injection of anti-venine that we carried in field bags. The other was bitten by an unidentified venomous snake in the Grampians in Victoria and survived un treated (his ankle blew up like a football). Another friend in Africa was bitten by a Berg Adder and was in bed for 6 months and nearly lost a leg (got late treatment), but recovered OK. Give me Australian snakes any day over the African vipers, that rot your flesh
Click to expand...
 
Things like African taipans happily sit in the branches (no one told me for nearly a year and I just watched the ground). I find venomous Australian snakes are not great climbers, but they will lie in the sun on large tree fern fronds a metre or so above ground (counted 42 around a lake one day, with half a dozen on fern fronds).

I forgot to mention that the Common Death Adder (Australian) has average 6.2 mm fangs (still shortish) and is quite venomous, but accounts for only rare deaths (used to be 60% of deaths before the first development of anti-venine, so treatment is very desirable).
 
The bigger variety have fangs up to 15mm long.
Like hypodermics.
And can go through leather shoes without a problem. :)
 
i just received an email reply from Clogger.com.au on their Snake Gator sizes.
The sizes listed on their website are kinda strange. Im 6ft, medium build ;) & yet the sizing indicated I would need a 'small', so i enquired if the larger sizes were for a horse.
The reply i received states that they are reviewing & changing the way the sizes are given.
Apparently a 'Medium' would be my fit.
They didnt mention a size for the horse :lol:
 

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