Email from non-member

[Moreliaman]

Dicco.......sorry mate, but if my child had been in a sandpit with what i thought could have been a deadly snake ,i wouldnt stop to think, gosh wheres my collins gem guide to australian snakes so i can correctly identify it, ....................................before i get the shovel !

i think the guy did right in view of his situation, and atleast he now knows incase he see's another.

[Dicco]

I never at any point said he needed to identify the snake, infact I'd prefer him not try to identify it himself as he may not be able to correctly. If you re-read my post I actually stated he should read up on snake behaviour ect so he can have a better understanding on these animals that pose a potential threat to him, his family and his pets.

I also stated that if there was a snake in the yard to make sure all children and pets were secure away from the area and give the animal the oppertunity to leave his yard on it's own accord.

I hope to hell you wouldn't attempt to kill a snake in the same sand pit your child was in! It's downright dangerous, the snake would become highly stressed and pose a great threat and there's the chance of it biting your child. The smart thing to do is remove your child from the sand pit, if you could cut a snakes head of with the kid in there then you could just as easily remove the child first off. Once the child is no longer in danger the animal can be given the oppertunity to leave before calling someone to move the snake on themselves.

I agree he did what he thought was right, he didn't know any better way of dealing with the situation. But I also believe he should be given information to help him make a better choice that allows the animal its life if the situation arises once more.

Cheers

[Moreliaman]

PM dico

[Camo]

Hey

Yes it is all well and good to say its a shame and it is but you ask yourself this question if you did not know about snakes and you had a couple of little kids you would kill it aswell. Yes its a shame but think about that side of the picture.

Cheers

Cameron

[Kris]

That's not necessarily true. There are a great many people who don't have a clue about snakes and still have the presence of mind to call someone who DOES have a clue about it rather than kill the animal. I'd be far more concerned about getting my kids inside and out of harms way than I would be about trying to shovel the snake.

The person who asked the question which started this thread wanted information about what the snake was so he could have a better idea what to do next time he comes across one. Now, hopefully, he knows better than to kill the next one he sees.

[Azztech]

i'm gunna be a prick (as usual)

and say that i have had little to no experience with colubrids/elapids.

and if i walked out to my 4 year old daughters sandpit, and saw that baby, straight away i'd be thinking "taipan" or similar, i don't think i'd behead it, but i sure wouldn't be counting it's damn nostril scales!

[AntaresiaLady]

I'm agreeing with those who are saying that parental instinct would take over.

If I thought the risk to my child, or my animals was imminent- then I would have no hesitation in taking drastic action, as awful as that sounds. BUT if the threat was not imminent or direct- then I would call one of the many 'snake guys' I know to come remove it. If no one could- I'd keep calling till I found someone who could.
I, like Azz, have no experience with colubrids/elapids, and as such would treat ALL snake encounters as though they are venomous especially if I could not identify the animal.

I'd also advise the gentleman who killed that snake to learn about the snakes in his area, and get a list of local 'Snakebusters', and keep the WIRES number by the phone.

And call me sensitive, but I think that it was unnecessary to show the graphic picture of the dismembered snake. Show its head, its body, but its unnecessary to post the one of the two together.

For most herpers thats a sight you never want to see. And I'd be happy if that was the last pic like that I ever see.

[Linus]

Gee I'm a bit surprised to hear so many reptile keepers would be so quick to "pull the trigger" on this poor keelback.

I understand this from the guy who has sent the email, but coming from people who keep snakes I would have expected a bit more presence of mind. Sure - call WIRES or NPWS and get it removed but it seems a lot of you have already resigned yourself to killing any unidentified species!

I can understand wanting to get your kids out of danger - so how about you pick up the kid and take him/her inside and then deal with the snake in a more friendly way! Crumbs!

[Kris]

No one suggested that the people should stop and count nasal scales (especially since there's only ever 2), or preocular scales for that matter, or that people should stop and ask the snake if it's venomous or not. That was simply one of the markers used to make the ID, if you're going to ID a snake for someone then you should at least make sure you do it properly don't you think?

And while I know what I'm going to say here will probably ruffle feathers, there are laws in QLD against moving or killing snakes. And they are there for a reason. The vast majority of snake bites occur when people interfere with the animal in some way (no I don't have a link for the stats). And as we all know, snakes are-along with all other native animals- a protected species.

Logic also dictates that if your child (or yourself) are in "imminent danger" from a snake then the most effective, and quickest, course of action is to remove yourself/selves from the situation. It takes less time to grab a child and walk away than it does to grab a pitchfork and torches and chase the ogre....hang on, got carried away.....than it does to grab a shovel and behead the snake. Not to mention the fact that someone chasing after the snake is more likely to aggravate the animal and increase the risk that the person at risk will be bitten. Generally speaking once a snake knows there's predators around they lose the desire to set up shop. Oh and before anyone says "but if you had kids you'd think differently"....we're parents too

Cheers, Kris and Kersten.

[Magpie]

I have to put my 5c worth in here.
I have kids, I love them.
I am also very very scared of dogs and every time one goes near my kids, I worry for my children's lives.
Seriously, I almost panic.
I have never ever killed a dog, even though many of them have jumped all over my kids and every single one of them has the potential to kill my kids.
Probably more potential to do harm than having a random aussie snake in the sandpit.
If I did kill a dog, I'd probably be on today tonight.

[Kris]

Agree with you 100% Magpie. I have the same fear about dogs with my kids, we don't even leave them alone with other family member's dogs.