Snakes

Excellent shots, Rick.

I have to say i really do love snakes.

I have not seen any at my wetlands yet this year but here is a brown at the entrance to a bird hide from last year.

Thats not a snake its a legless lizard, that one is a type of Scaly Foot probably Common or Eastern.

Thanks Tim !  I found some pics of Common Scaly Foot and that definitely is it.

Very snake like though.

A nice spot for catching a bit of morning sun, I sit in the same spot on the green seat ,it got there first .

Wow, Agro has such intricate colouring. Is he a Tiger Snake too?

Saw my first snake of the year on the weekend; was quite pleased- I rarely ever seem to come across snakes. 

How do you guys find them all?

Agro is a Tasmanian Tiger snake (Notechus scutatus) apparently slight differences between them and their mainland cousins. My snake sightings usually are as a result from an unwanted specimen too close to people, via Reptile Rescue. Although I have had a couple of sightings of snakes crossing the road. A lot of people will never see a snake in the wild, as they tend to be retiring (Tasmanian snakes anyway), that is they would rather escape than pick a fight. Our snakes only become aggressive if you tread on one, get it cornered or try and catch/kill it, or become between its mate or food source.

I had a sad encounter with a snake the other day -  a large python crossing the road.

I didn't see it till it was too late to stop, but it was longer than my car is wide and I ran over it's rear few inches (rather than running over it's head).

Dale, do you have any advice on what to do in this situation?

Other than drive slower and look further ahead of course, which I will be doing from now on.

I came back later and it had disappeared (presumably into the bush).

Last year my wife's cat had a fight with an eastern brown. The cat approached the brown, then the brown struck at the cat and it was a full on fight, the brown striking repeatedly at the cat and the cat hissing and yowling as it went for the snake (right in front of our house). All very exciting, the brown eventually took off, I retreated to a safe distance. I have seen browns get aggressive before, it is a species you should never ever approach unless you are feeling extremely foolhardy. You don't get any warning, they just go into attack mode and move very fast.

That said, if you wear sturdy clothes and give snakes plenty of respect you have close to zero chance of being bitten.

There are heaps of Copperheads at local wetlands, I counted 8 (and was within a metre of stepping on one) whilst doing bird surveys. 

There are on average a couple of snakebite deaths every year, mostly eastern browns with occasional taipans. Browns are fine, I see them all the time, until they decide to strike. You can never tell when they will decide to strike, you can see them a thousand times but the next time may be when they have a go. Because their speed is so fast you should fear them and keep well away.

It is their strike that is fast. The snake could have left without striking, there was plenty of cover to hide it but it chose to stay and fight. I see red belly blacks all the time, have seen them rear up but never strike. I had a brown in my greenhouse once, it got in but couldn't get out, it was thrashing around all over the place. They just have a natural agression which most snakes don't have, that is why they cause so many deaths.

Timmo, not much you can do in that situation. Most deaths occur when the head or the lungs become compressed and damaged when run over, or they are deliberately skittled. Your Python will likely survive with no ill affects. You should not try and catch or approach a snake you believe is injured, but try and contact an expert, not always easy.

The last snakebite death in Tasmania was 1977, a careless handler. I did read about a death in WA a few days ago, and another in Victoria a few months ago.  I have heard of several recent mainland bites, non fatal. Our snakes are shy and retitiring, will escape rather than bite. Only when cornered or harassed will they defend themselves, and often the first bite is a dry bite (I speak only for Tasmanian snakes). Usually when we rescue/relocate them, we grab them by the tail as they are trying to escape. Have caught 7 in the past 3 weeks, so as the weather warms, they are becoming more active.

Should there be interest, I can post some I formation about snakebite first aid, the same treatment applies Australia wide for venomous species.

I have not been to visit our captives since my last post, but shall endeavour to do so soon and hopefully post some shots.

Loving all they photos and comments about snakes, I think they are my favourite animal, perhaps birds are there too!

For first aid advice, first link is from Reptile Rescue Inc. this refers primarily to Tasmanian Snakes, but he First Aid will be the same for all venomous species. PIB refers to a "Pressure Immobilisation Bandage". 

**Important the Reptile Rescue Phone number is for Tasmania only, I am not sure we have contacts for other states at this time**

We are lucky in Tasmania, as the Anti Venom is the same for all 3 species. Not quite so lucky on the big island, but species can be identified with the appropriate test kit (refer To second link), and so it is not necessary to take the snake to hospital with you.

There is some good information on both sites, worth a look if your interested.

CSL Greg refers to provides useful information for those interested, see second link below. 

http://www.reptilerescue.org.au/page18/intro.html

http://www.toxinology.com/generic_static_files/cslavh_antivenom.html

When I saw the brown snake and cat fighting I was absolutely terrified. It was so fast, loud and violent my heart was right in my mouth, I was very relieved when the snake finally took off. Animals, especially wild animals, have a way of scaring you that you don't normally get in ordinary life. I once had an uncomfortably close call with a hippo while in a rowing boat, it was really terrifying for just a few seconds.

Hi Woko, no real research completed (dont think anyone has time to do research) on the impact of OUR work, but anecdotally attitudes are changing, many more people are aware of and contacting wildlife rescue organizations. All organizations are reporting steady increases in the number of calls received received. Bonorong Sanctuary are now dealing with an average of 25 calls per day for sick or injured wildlife. Reptile Rescue had no operatives in our are, prior to Sam (my son) , another colleague and I becoming involved, there was only 1 snake catcher in our area (a private operator), he does not advertise, we met him on a job last season. He has seen a steady increase over the past few years, relocating upwards of 50 snakes a season. Last season Reptile Rescue received 330 calls statewide, with us 3 doing about 60 of those, catching 45 snakes (not all jobs are successful, some are public awareness or searches). We did not have any impact on his business, in fact he asked us to help him out on busy days. Just trying to point out that public awareness and concern is on the rise.

Thanks for the information, Dale. Those numbers would certainly suggest that awareness & sensitivity to wildlife are increasing. Now to enable people to make the connection between wildlife & habitat protection & restoration! 

I had an interesting (first) encounter with a Tiger Snake a couple of weeks ago.  I have appointed myself the official poster girl for what NOT to do when you encounter any of our slithery friends.

As Dale has expertly pointed out, do not come between it and it's food source for one thing.  Usually I'm pretty careful and calm, but I'll expose my own level of stupid during my first close encounter, as a safety lesson of sorts.  My multiple mistakes involved; Almost treading on said snakey, tiptoeing around and looking up for birds really isn't good in warmer weather.  Realising snakey had it's head in a Thornbill nest which I had travelled to observe a couple of times over the preceding weeks, so I moved to a safer distance to get a possible behavioural shot or two.  But... was overwhelmed by the screaming panicked birds and when part of said snakes baby bird lunch stumbled past my boot onto the hot road, I scooped up said feathery lunch.  Then, stamped my foot thinking the snake would move on, not, at the same time saying loudly, sucked in you big bully I have your lunch now, then taking a photo WITH the blasted flash up - all in the space of about 15 seconds.  And then I ran.  The poor snake, yelled at, insulted, startled, near blinded and part of lunch stolen.  I do not know where my brain was - my only defense was that the sound of shrieking birds and that tiny tiny little birds panic as it stumbled past me, just overcame common sense and triggered my nurture instead of nature hormones or something.  Mr Greedy Guts then went around to all the other low lying nests in about a 20m radius and raided them all.  Seriously, I've read of people doing some pretty idiotic things around snakes, but never thought I'd be one of them .

I went back four days later and all the nests I had found in that area were confirmed empty, it was eerily quiet too although I did spot a few of the usual residents carrying nesting material so assume they were rebuilding elsewhere.  Kookaburras sounded a warning call on the second trip, and there was Greedy Guts moving across the road to start on a series of nests over there.  I'll be honest, I do like snakes, but have to admit I like birds better  and even though this snake was just doing what he should to survive, I couldn't help but feel so sorry for the birds that this guy was on such a feeding frenzy of a mission, all in the same spot.

I hope I redeemed myself slightly the second time, engaged my brain and stayed much further back and detached.  Although this partly backfired as he must have done some weird long loop in the bush and came out unexpectedly only a few metres away from me, and he was naturally immediately pissed to see me, flattened out straight away, so I just stayed still and he turned and went.

This first shot is from my first encounter with Greedy Guts, and the last two from the second.  Not sure if he has something going on with that left eye or not, or if it is just some sticky web or something across it?

Hi Annie, I love these shots, I think the eye has "unshed eye cap(s)", rather than a problem. If you google this, it is a common problem with snakes, where they develop a protective cap over the eye to protect it during sloughing (shedding). Most posts refer to snakes in captivity, but obviously the same can happen with wild creatures. There may also be something near the eye, an object runnin horizontally across the eye. This is a beautiful black, shiny specimen, I would suggest has sloughed not that long ago, in fact in the first shot, although a little blurred past the head, the scales appear much duller than the last, so I would suggest it occurred between your visits, of course providing it is the same snake, which is highly probable, given the abundant food supply.

For those who don't know, snakes can go many many months without eating, when they go into Torpor (sort of hibernation, but different - Google that to) they will eat a few weeks before hand, but nothing at all over the winter months. They then become opportunistic feeders, eating whenever possible over the summer months. Some of the snakes we had in care over the winter (see the "nest" in post 31) had not eaten for about 8 months. They were fed last Sunday (after several attempts to get them to eat), and 3 of those have now been released, wounds healed, successfully sloughed, and now having had a feed.

Chapel Island Tiger Snakes may often only eat once or twice in an entire year (Short Tailed Shearwater breeding season), as other food is in limited supply.

Looks like a baby tiger Annie.

Sure is, also had it ID'd by email by the lovely Reptile Rescue folk too.  It's really very pretty, 20-25cm long skinny little snake pencil 

Here is a copperhead that I saw crossing the road over Summer.