What about the nasties?

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

End of last year we had a Brown (Considerably larger than this one from a couple of years back) move into the shed. I was happy to leave it as I am hoping it will wake up shortly and remove the possums that are shi..... making a mess over everthing. It has certainly done wonders in keeping my wife outside!
Chooks are responsible for most snake bites, they attract mice, the mice attract the Browns, and so the Browns are responsible for more bites than any other snake in Australia.
There are two ways of measuring the "Deadly" rating of a snake. The actual toxicity of the venom, and the amount and effectivness of its delivery. Becomes a moot point when most Aussy snakes are fighting for the top of the list whichever way you look at it.

For our future visitors from O/S, there was a case of the Tourist in a Kayak who paddled 4 km of the West Aust. coast to camp on an island last month. He was held captive by a croc. that was twice as long as his Kayak, and would welcome him with open jaws everytime he made an attempt to get in it. Two weeks before he was rescued...

It never ceases to amaze me how proud Aussies are of the deadly inhabitants over here, Sure it says something about us, just not sure what?

Did enjoy the postings on Raccoons in another thread, not quite as harmless as Walt Disney led us to beleive.
Rich.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

There are two ways of measuring the "Deadly" rating of a snake. The actual toxicity of the venom, and the amount and effectivness of its delivery.

Same applies to spiders, for example the funnel web is widely regarded as the world's deadliest spider not only because of its highly toxic venom, but because of its highly effective delivery system - a ferocious pair of fangs which can penetrate toenails!

However, "deadly" doesn't necessarily mean "dangerous", which depends on the behaviour of the creature. Most creatures with deadly bites are extremely timid and present little danger when disturbed by humans - they flee rather than attack. Once again the funnel web is a rare exception - highly aggressive when disturbed, it will attack and strike repeatedly. Most commonly this occurs in swimming pools, to which they're attracted by the cool dampness around them, and can survive for several days after falling into the water, even on the bottom after they've stopped floating!

Similarly the brown snake and tiger snake are rated highly dangerous because of their aggression when disturbed - they're inclined to rear up and strike repeatedly, and can bash away at the sole of a boot held up in defence quite persistently. They've even been known to chase people if they happen to be in the path of escape!

However, as Lynn mentions, most snakebites can be avoided by wearing ankle high boots, and all snake bites can be avoided by wearing calf leggings when bushwalking. The reality is that snake bites are relatively rare in Australia, and since the development of anti-venom only a handful fatalities occur annually - mostly heroes trying to kill them or show off with them. Spiders are even less of a threat, in fact I'm pretty sure they haven't killed anyone for decades. Meanwhile plenty of people have died from anaphylaxis after bee stings.

Based on the statistics you're probably more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by one of the numerous deadly critters that inhabit Australia. Unless of course you're asking for it - like surfing in shark infested waters, or swimming in croc infested rivers, or cavorting with stingrays like Steve Irwin! That said, on the very rare occasions one encounters one our deadly friends, it can certainly be rather frightening - as I discovered a couple of years ago, when a large tiger snake slithered across my lounge room in front of the TV I was watching!