If it dont have legs, its a Snake!
Submitted: Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 10:10
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ImEasy
A man is in hospital after he was bitten five times by a death adder snake at
Wisemans Ferry, on
Sydney's north-western outskirts.
A doctor says the 47-year-old thought the snake was a
LIZARD and picked it up at a waterskiing resort near the Hawkesbury River last night.
Other holiday makers identified it as a death adder and the snake was killed.
Rescue helicopter spokesman Ian Badham says trauma specialists were called to help treat the man.
"After the man was bitten five times on the arm, ambulance officers raced to his aid, NRMA CareFlight helicopter arriving as he went into cardiac arrest," he said.
"The officers and the crew doctor worked to revive the man, who was in a critical condition when we flew him into Westmead Hospital."
A hospital spokeswoman says the man is now in a stable condition in intensive care.
World's deadliest
A snake expert, Professor Rick Shine, says the adder is one of the world's deadliest snakes.
"It's up there with you know the top eight or 10 of the species," he said.
"But the reality is that very few people in Australia die.
"If you get a pressure bandage on and get yourself to hospital you've probably got a day or so before it's going to be desperately life threatening.
I know there is a legless
Lizard, but as far as im concerned, if it dont have legs, then its a SNAKE!
Reply By: Footloose - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 10:19
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 10:19
"Excuse me , but do you have legs ?"
In the dark it's hard to tell. About the same as asking
"Excuse me but are you a dangerous snake?"
My golden rule is that no matter what it is, I leave it alone.
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Follow Up By: ImEasy - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 10:40
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 10:40
*My golden rule is that no matter what it is, I leave it alone*
Exactly, dark or not!
FollowupID:
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Reply By: TerraFirma - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 12:24
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 12:24
He is very lucky and even if it was a
lizard you don't pick it up, leave it alone, especially in the dark. How many beers before hand I wonder..? Smart thinking by killing the snake to confirm which anti-venom to administer.
Some of the Death Adders do look like a
lizard, see the link attached..
http://
home.primus.com.au/kellykk/adder.jpg
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Ewin - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 17:37
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 17:37
As a snake rescuer for WIRES , it is not a good idea to kill the snake, it can be identified in the hospital from a swab.
First it is illegal to kill any native fauna.
More to the point, most people bitten by a snake are trying to kill or capture it.
Good advise to leave it alone.
You guys are the best
forum I've come across.
Cheers.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 18:39
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 18:39
>First it is illegal to kill any native fauna.
There are many instances where that is not correct - and if in serious danger of attack from the animal is one of them, neverless many snake bites occur because people try to kill them rather than just letting them carry on their merry way.
www.avru.org/
www.usyd.edu.au/anaes/venom/snakebite.html
www.usyd.edu.au/anaes/venom/spiders.html
Will provide more info than you can point a stick at.
And the title of this thread is incorrect:
Site Link
In the main; if you don't mess with snakes they won't mess with you - simple.
Mike Harding
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Reply By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 18:52
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 18:52
Hey guys, don't be so alarmist, as said above snakes tend to be timid unless you stirr them up, just walk away unless you are an herpitologist. Here is the legless
lizard page at the Victorian Museum and please familiarise yourselves. Site Link
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Jimbo - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 19:35
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 19:35
In the main, I say leave them alone, they generally run from you.
However.......you find the occassional one that gets too close and becomes a threat.
Years ago we had a big black monster come into our
campsite and showed no intention to leave. Timid it was not. A few years later when living in Townsville a smallish black was in our yard where little children were playing.
Both of them met their demise at the sharp end of a shovel.
They should be left alone UNLESS they are threatening human lives. Unfortunately at this point it is over for them, and I make no apology for that.
Dead child or dead snake? The decision is simple.
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Follow Up By: Willem - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 20:47
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 20:47
One of the most deadliest snakes in the world is the Trouser Snake.
If it comes in to contact with a female human she could stay swollen for many months....lol
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Follow Up By: Jimbo - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 21:00
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 21:00
You're a better man than me Willie.
"swollen for months"?
I'd be happy with minutes....LOL.
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 21:46
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 21:46
Jimbo...answer could be viagra or possibly referring to ego
Cheers
Greg
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Willem - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 22:00
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 22:00
lololol......your eyes are out of focus...quote.."she could stay swollen"
I agree with the minutes thingy..lol
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Follow Up By: Jimbo - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 22:29
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 22:29
I got it Willie,
But I'll vary my comment to....
You're a MUCH better man than Me.
Keep her swollen for months? What is your middle name? Sir Tristram?
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Reply By: Member - Andrew W (SA) - Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 20:57
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 at 20:57
hmmm - hopped out the car at Boggabilla for a QP and just about stepped on a couple of copulating black snakes last week.
Made me wonder how you could upset longfellow more than by sending his misses scurring into the grass just as he was getting going.
Ciao for now
Andrew
AnswerID:
199077
Reply By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:08
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:08
OMG what an idiot.
Mind you in saying that when I was about 5 my brothers and I were playing under the house in
Marble Bar and had played with this "legless
lizard" for about 30minutes before we finally killed it (kids can be cruel hey). When dad got
home and we showed him our dead
lizard was a little pale in the face - yep you guessed it a death adder.
But the question I've got is what the heck was a death addar doing in
Sydney?? I didn't think they would live anywhere NEAR there....
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:21
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:21
>But the question I've got is what the heck was a death addar
>doing in
Sydney?? I didn't think they would live anywhere
>NEAR there....
It got on the wrong bus? :)
There have been sightings of them just inside Victoria around the
Echuca / Swan
Hill region - careful when you're camped on the Murray.
Reading a little more of my snake book (The snakes of Victoria, Coventry/Robertson, Museum of Vic) tells me that it may occur in the coastal heaths of far East Gippsland as it still occurs on the south east coast of NSW in similar country.
A particularly dangerous snake.
Mike Harding
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:29
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:29
Yeah the only two snakes that really give me the heaby geebies are the Death addar and the tiger snake, those tiger snakes are agressive buggers. We were mountain biking through some swap land when we were about 17 and as we jumped off a log we lept over a tiger snake, the bugger came after us!! Luckily we were absolutally moving but it chased us for a little while, mate I've never pedaled so fast I can tell you!
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:40
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:40
Hello - there are at least 4 species of Death Adder in Australia (WA is lucky - we have all 4). The type specimen of The Common Death Adder - Acanthopis antarcticus was described in 1802 and was in fact originally found by European naturalists in the
Sydney region. This species is not found in the central desert regions and the wetter parts of SW WA, Victoria, south eastern NSW or
Cape York. Quite conceivable that it could occur in the north western outskirts of
Sydney as described in news report.
Wisemans Ferry is located along the Hawksberry River about 50km Nth of
Sydney proper. The area is almost surrounded by National Parks, State Forests and Recreational Areas i.e. lots of bush.
Cheers
Greg
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:43
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 11:43
Is there any significant difference (from a bush users point of view) between the four species?
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 12:37
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 12:37
Hello Mike - Species are very similar to the untrained eye and if you had all 4 in a bag at the same spot you would need to examine/count scales to make "proper" identifications to species level - not recommended, though colour can be used as a guide also. Their distributions overlap only slightly around edges (except Desert Death Adder and
Pilbara Death Adder) so you could use your location to narrow down options in most cases to 1 or 2 species.
The most defining factors are
Common Death Adder - Acanthopis antarcticus - Dark greyish brown or dark brownish
grey. Back and tail with 40-50 pale
grey or pale brown cross bands. Anterior dorsal scales smooth or weekly keeled - SW WA, coastal hinterland of SA, NSW, Southern 3/4 of QLD and QLD/NT border.
Northern Death Adder - Acanthophis praelongus - Ground colour dark brown,
grey brown or dark reddish brown with pale crossbands, head scales moderately rugose (wrinkled) - Far Nth
Kimberley, Nth NT and
Cape York.
Desert Death Adder - Acanthophis pyrrhus - head scales strongly rugose (wrinkled), Ground colour
bright reddish brown - Arid zone from southern
Kimberley to northern WA wheatbelt, Sth 3/4 of NT, Nth SA and SW corner of QLD.
Pilbara Death Adder - Acanthophis wellsi - very similar to Desert Death Adder - Body brick red with pale or black crossbands, differs from Desert Death Adder by having more boldly marked lips and undivided prefrontal scales- confined to
Pilbara region and isolated
population at
Cape Range. See my picture in my album of specimen caught (and then released..not by me!!) at
Dampier.
Cheers
Greg
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 13:54
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 13:54
Thanks for that Greg.
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Follow Up By: Ewin - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 14:57
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 14:57
Hell Jeff. et al.
What an interesting and instructive
forum.
Gerry Swan's Field Guide to Snakes & Lizards of NSW indicates ample evidence of Death Adders close to
Sydney.
When learning to handle snakes with WIRES the most dangerous by far is the Eastern Brown, much more so than Tigers. However the one snake which we do not attempt to pick-up is the Death Adder. The pointy end being too close to the tail!
Cheers.
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Nullagine) - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 17:32
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 17:32
It reeeely anoys the hell out of me how many people (country people are actually the worst although they should know better) have a morbid fear of snakes with the opinion that every snake (including legless lizards) are rabid killing machines that will chase you down and continue striking until you are dead. a mere sighting of a snake is called a near death experience. More annoying is they generally kill all they can with 2 pythons being killed at work and me having to save a harmless shovel nosed snake. lived in the country most of my life and have never come close to being bitten. there just like any othe reptile intent on flight than fight
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 17:37
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 17:37
A fear of the unkown perhaps Davoe. Mate I'm not one of these hack their heads of type of people (although that was how we were brought up in the country). I understand that they are best left alone, rather than being hunted down. But as I said, those two snakes above still give me the willies. But I'd sure as bleep rather bugger off quick smart in the other direction than hang around with a shovel trying to lop the poor buggers head off! ;-)
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Reply By: ev700 - Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 12:01
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 at 12:01
People watch nature shows and are encouraged towards a belief that animals like to be held and petted.
In this case claimed mistaken identity was at fault however the problem may not have occurred at all if he'd left the animal alone.
They may see
young children handling snakes and spinders in controlled conditions and set out to do the same.
As parents we should discuss this article with children because they may be misled by nature shows into believing that confronting out native animals is usually safe.
However it is often unsafe, as many who have tried to pet (say) a brushtail possum would attest. Again, that common window
spider can and will deliver a painful bite.
I try to get rid of rubbish, long grass and stacked timber because any refuge for rodents will bring predators (snakes).
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Reply By: Muzzgit [WA] - Sunday, Oct 15, 2006 at 02:09
Sunday, Oct 15, 2006 at 02:09
Some wheat belt farmers are welcoming snakes because they prey on rodents, which is a good thing in wheat/sheep country.
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