Snakes & Prospecting Safety

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Poor bloke. 68 years old , i think. He got help ,but it was too late.

Sorry 7.62 Marksman. I just saw your post.
 
Gday

Snakes are better avoided, and for the most part they don't want to be near us either, as earlier mentioned a lot of people are bitten when they try to kill the snake as it will of course become agitated and if you are bitten it will have plenty of venom in the bite, some bites when the snake is surprised and strikes at you will be dry and contain little or no venom so wearing long pants, gators and good boots might save you finding out, wearing thongs and runners is plain stupid, and so is wearing thongs and open shoes while wandering the camp at night as contrary to popular belief snakes will and do wander around at night and it does not matter if it is hot or cold weather.

The closest I came to getting bitten was at first light on a morning when it was extremely cold, just started to detect while heading out of camp and looking down as I took a step forward I had a small snake about 600/700mm long slither between my feet, it must have come up from behind me, it was not happy about the cold I guess as it was flattened out close to the ground, in surprise I stepped back and placed my coil on top of it, not very hard but enough to encourage it to take off, after biting the coil it with the aid of a couple of rocks tossed at it nose dived under some leaf littler at the base of a bush, so I just wandered away in the other direction to avoid it, so that's how I know they can be about when its really cold as well.

In the case of snakes prevention is better than cure, use your head and protect yourself in the first place and you will probably avoid a bite.

cheers

stayyerAU
 
So true StayyerAU. Some are Diurnal, some are Nocturnal, and some may be both depending on the weather. Some that generally are active in the day time only, then become active on warm nights and move around.
 
RottenRon said:
Tathradj said:
Mainly down the east coast of Australia. Up behind where I live Dr George is thick with them and so is a lot of places around here.
Other mongrel snake around is a Tiger snake but mainly thick a bit further south.
Yambulla my favorite hunting ground is well populated with both and being around 50Klm's from anywhere is a bit of a problem. LOL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_death_adder

They occur in the Northern Territory as well.
About 20 years ago I was working at a powerhouse on an Aboriginal community called Ramangining, East of Darwin and not too far from the coast. My boss and I were cleaning up some dried leaves etc. and as he bent over to pick up a small pipe of leaves with his hands, he spotted the death adder slap bang in the middle of the pile :eek: . It was about 20" long, and looked a hell of a lot like the dried leaves it was curled up on.
We picked it up carefully with a plastic garden rake and took it into the scrub, then came back and continued our cleanup. Needless to say, we were a little distracted after that.

There are big mobs of death adders up here.
I took a work crew to rake and get the Garma festival site cleaned up. Lots of death adders in thr leaf litter, mostly small ones, but the occasional big bugger.
Around the tennant creek area, they get pretty big. Also, sometimes on the roads in wet season after rain around the flood plains.
 
Am i the only one who doesn't give a shit about his own safety? lol

Yeh depressions a bitch haha but i go out comfy in shorts shoes and don't even bother or worry about snakes.

I kinda figure if it's my time it's my time, don't be afraid of death for crying out loud... death is just the begining.
 
I hear gaiters are good, but I haven't seen a snake come near me when I wear my crocs out detecting. :p

1576234294_77d077e5-fd0d-4b05-91ee-30d374d77210-12985-000007a394b95a6d.jpg
 
Hello everyone,

Lets hope a few can advise on the following queries please. Sorry for quite a few questions, but I'd rather ask.

Been winter, I know snakes are very sparse but are around according to the experts as they do not hibernate like other species. Because its cold, the chances of seeing any are nearly zero, but on a warmer day in winter, an odd one may be out and sleepy, and we are approaching Spring.

Due to our current restrictions in Melbourne, we won't be prospecting yet, but once back out, I'd like to get more information from the experience Gold Panners on this forum who enjoy the creeks and rivers.

It worries me a little sometimes panning on my own, walking for about 20 minutes to my area in a valley and getting bitten by a snake could be very risky. Walking back up a hill with a snake bite is only going to get the venom spreading quicker and the time to get back to my vehicle or a house takes time. Phone signal in the valley is poor too.

1. Do most prospectors wear Gum Boots walking to site and are these suitable to handle a snake bite? In the creeks, the gum boots are perfect, but I walk to site with work boots and risk it currently. My mate who goes with me has been panning for years and wear gum boots to get to site, but he's an old timer and risks other things.

2. Does anyone recommend snake gators walking to site, then change into gumboots once in the creek.

3. As walking in the creek and doing the usual panning etc, if the banks are grassy, is there a good chance a snake could be hiding there and possibly bite you higher up on the arms say? Who has come across snakes on the banks while panning or wading in creeks? I know most snakes are venomous, but I worry about Browns & Tigers.

4. I know winter is a good time to prospect in creeks assuming its dry and water is low as the temperature is bearable and snakes will be a lot less, would you suggest its very dangerous prospecting in summer when the snakes are around more, I have never seen any in the other summers yet?

5. Does many of you pan on your own in a creek? I now have a rule to go with 1 more person for safety just in case and acting on caution due to been a long walk away from my vehicle or nearest house. If I am near civilization, I can pan on my own.

6. Any advise on anything else what can keep us more safe with snakes? Apart from taking the usual bandages, splints etc for the usual snake kit.

Been a POM, you will all probably think I'm silly worrying about all this, but I have prospected in creeks now for a around 3 years and have never seen a snake yet, but recently been a bit distracted by finding better gold deposits and gone back to my usual British roots of not worrying about anything that can kill you and relaxing my cautions, but I need to keep focused.

Many thanks if anyone can comment on my points, just need to be sensible as where I prospect is way out of the way, if it was nearer civilization, I would not be asking these questions.

Cheers.

Rick.
 
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