camping and snakes

Whilst I am not a snake expert I have witnessed a Copperhead stroll through our camp down to the river & back towards the camp & seemed to be investigating the noise....they are cannibals and will eat other snakes. Snakes do react to vibrations (noise) and after all, are hunters & if in that state will investigate for a feed. I grew up in an area where the Tiger snake was very populous & if ever a snake was deemed inquisitive & aggressive the Tiger fits the bill, unfortunately for us humans a bite from a Tiger can make us very sick & in some cases prove fatal. As we travel north to FNQ the Taipan & Fierce snake are very deadly with the latter reputably the most dangerous & poisonous in the world. I was fishing up on the Howqua river years ago and in my efforts to get to the "best" fishing spot I dropped most of my gear,fell over & nearly into the river,exclaiming profanities, making enough noise to wake the dead. I settled in and fished for awhile,noticing a dark pile of "something" about a metre away & thinking it was probably cattle poo or something, really didn't take that much notice until I decided to move and exit the area a different way so as to not fall over as per the trip in.Well I nearly stood on this bloody snake and only after passing did I poke at it with a very long stick & sure enough it had been asleep and slithered off into the under growth. So thumping and banging and making noise doesn't always work as you found out too.

Make as much noise as you like around a snake, it won't care, it can't hear you, they don't have external ears.

The do have internal ears that pick up on vibrations.

So as I have experience on a few occasions snakes on the waters edge in general won't "hear" you as the water vibration covers your tracks. hitting the ground with the back of a shovel will get their attention.

How snake hear.... click here

Back many years ago in the High Country or even down Gippsland we I was told that a ring or kerosene around your camp would keep snakes out as they sense with their tongues and kerosene irritates their skin. It works but make sure that there are no snakes inside the ring... its embarrassing....

March files are the pits. Thank god for the annex. Poor dog coped it from the march files and the ants. Beautiful part of the world. Good point about the snake bit kit. Having one doesn't mean you know how to use it.

The problem with society is they want someone to blame. Maybe we can just ban all snakes. I do agree that there are heaps of snakes that we don't see, and that includes at home too. I feel safer out in the bush than at home most of the time. Educating the kids is the best thing. At a caravan park, sorry, a few years back a baby snake was trying to find it's way home, got a bit of a crowd around it and then some knob came up with a pear of pilers and killed it. Told the kids that's how you can learn from dumb people.

I agree if snakes in the bush concern you

- stay home

your far more likely to be hurt crashing on your way out there than be hurt by a snake

seeing a snake in the bush is like any wildlife
- a beutifull thing and if you cant appreciate that youve gotta wonder what your doing there

Tell me if someone behind you now clapped their hands together loudly while you looked at those beutifull photo's you wouldn't jump :-))
Cheers Craig........

"watch reruns of Pat Callahan's Adventures on TV" ???

I'll prefer the snakes thanks!! LOL

Thanks for posting these beaut pics. Can somebody please name them for me. Cheers, Case

Great photos Getoutmore.
You certainly have a talent for wildlife photography. Great work.
Regards Cruiser

"Thanks for posting these beaut pics. Can somebody please name them for me. Cheers, Case"

How about Bill, Fred and John. :-)

South West carpet Python from the Fitxgerald river nat Park

Southern Death Adder from the Mundaring Weir region perth

Mulga Snake from the Francis Peron NP Shark Bay

Thanks for posting the names. This site is informative and educational(for some)
Cheers, Case

"Southern Death Adder from Mundaring.............JEEZUS H KRYST
lived in Mundaring all my life and didn't know those humungous man eaters lived here too.............thats its....I'm outa here


Just kidding

Cheers Pop

we also have a local red belly on our property , as we have a creek running through our property - he has taken up residence on the walking trail to our swimming holes ( water pump area ) she is about 7 foot and always goes and hides when i approach - as others mention you just need to be mindful that you are in snake country and you will see them late afternoon and first thing in morning..

Hi Bazooka, ...... "calm the victim"? ........ perhaps with the Barry Manilow music??

Case of the 'cure being worse than the disease' Allan? Apologies to BM fans.

Very true. I think this advise can be used any wildlife. The Family always comes first. Protect our family. If you can chase the wildlife (snake in this case) away then do it other wise the only option is to kill it.

Im yet to see a snake that will just hang around

those pics are some of the few ive been able to stalk slowly up to so as not to alarm them and scare them off
the mulga snake you can see is flattening himself out telling me thats close enough and hes about to take off
all of them took off in due course

snakes dont "hang around" any more than most other wild animals