Have you ever felt like you just dodged a bullet?

[guzzo]

Have you ever had an experience that left you thinking…..sheesh that was a close one!

Here is one of mine that sticks in my mind and I often think about it still.

About 3 years back I was living in Jabiru and found a great fishing hole. I would not catch big fish but would always catch something…usually small barra or Saratoga…great fun.

I would always look out for crocs and after going there about 20 times without seeing one I must confess I got complacent.

So on this particular afternoon I had decided to change my lure and crouched down at my tackle box near a big tree.

I was about 1.5meters from the water and side on while I tied my lure.

When I stood up and faced the water, I froze…..there less than 2 meters away was a 4mtr croc, nosed in to where I was standing. It was on the surface and I remember it being so dark in colour and its eyes were so bright….almost bright yellow as they caught the sun.

It seemed like a long time but it was only seconds when the water exploded In a blur of motion and for a split second I could not tell if it was coming at me or what and before I realised what had happened it had turned on itself and was gone.

I was dripping with water from its splash and could not believe what had just happened.

I have given this much thought.

1. It must have been watching me and perhaps thought I was a wallaby or something when I was crouched.
2. It must have not made a decision to stalk me as it was on the surface in full view and I know that when they usually stalk something they slip under the water and explode without warning.
3. It must have been curious and when I stood up I might have startled it or something as it suddenly vanished.
4. If it had made the decision to get me I would have not had a chance and am sure it would have been over before I would have realised what happened.

A point of interest…a full sized horse was killed by a croc a couple of days later about 500meters away.

Anyhow I learnt a couple of lessons….complacency…in relation to anything is never a good thing……and just because you can’t see a danger does not mean it is not there.

Because lets face it the most valuable thing any of us have is life!!

I am sure some APS member’s who keep Vens must have had some close calls that made them re think things….please feel free to share or any other close calls you have had.

 

[Nighthawk]

Woah that would've been a rush!

 

[guzzo]

When you think about it humans are really not equipt for being prey.....soft without any real defence esp against a real predator....I mean if something can bring down a full grown horse a stupid fisherman not paying attention would be like crushing a marshmellow with pliers haha

 

[gex13]

about three years ago me and my little brother him being 6 and me being 11 were looking for blue tongues and i lifted up a big rock and i turned around to my little brother walking to me with a red belly in his hands i stood up and said drop it and run the other way and he dropped it and stayed there it slithered towards me and reared up scary

 

[guzzo]

Interesting, I have heard of other stories such as this with kids picking up venomous snakes without incident. Maybe their lack of fear because they do not know the danger somehow does not alarm the snake....who knows.....I know if I did it how it would end!!!

 

[snakes123]

I got chased by a red belly when i was 5?

Ben

 

[longqi]

Since Ive been in Bali I have had three near misses brought into the shop
One was supposed to be a harmless reed snake and turned out to be the exact opposite when I opened the bag and it came out pretty pissed off
Other two were people walking in with a a blue banded krait sitting in their pocket
[their reaction when I very quietly put on a pair of gloves before going anywhere near it were interesting]

Then there is the main reason I ended up playing with reptiles
I was born in Ireland.... No snakes
raised in New Zealand.... No snakes
Came to Aus and went trout fly fishing near Goulburn
Lying on the bank after creeping up the rivers edge and this thing lifted its head up and looked at me
Mate said 'Brownie Dont move"
It slid through the crook of my arm and went away

Until then I thought if a snake saw you you died or at least got chased for a long way etc etc
Here was a so called deadly snake that couldnt care less
If that had not happened I probably would not have become so fascinated by this lovely animals

 

[guzzo]

Since Ive been in Bali I have had three near misses brought into the shop
One was supposed to be a harmless reed snake and turned out to be the exact opposite when I opened the bag and it came out pretty pissed off
Other two were people walking in with a a blue banded krait sitting in their pocket
[their reaction when I very quietly put on a pair of gloves before going anywhere near it were interesting]

Then there is the main reason I ended up playing with reptiles
I was born in Ireland.... No snakes
raised in New Zealand.... No snakes
Came to Aus and went trout fly fishing near Goulburn
Lying on the bank after creeping up the rivers edge and this thing lifted its head up and looked at me
Mate said 'Brownie Dont move"
It slid through the crook of my arm and went away

Until then I thought if a snake saw you you died or at least got chased for a long way etc etc
Here was a so called deadly snake that couldnt care less
If that had not happened I probably would not have become so fascinated by this lovely animals

Interesting stories longqi....how venomous is a blue banded krait? ie would an untreated bite be life threatening?

 

[Audio_anthrax]

From memory im kinda sure that a blue banded krait is pretty damn dangerous, being a type of sea snake?
Only just remember seeing a doco on asian and indonesian snakes...

 

[guzzo]

From memory im kinda sure that a blue banded krait is pretty damn dangerous, being a type of sea snake?
Only just remember seeing a doco on asian and indonesian snakes...

Right....curiosity has been ignited.....I am about to google that blue banded krait!!!

Right just returned from Google

About 50% of all bites from this krait results in human death – even with the administration of anti-venin. Death is the usual result if no treatment is given. The closely related Bungarus multicinctus is ranked 3rd in the world for toxicity of venom (terrestrial snakes). Do be careful.

It appears it is a dangerous thing!

 

[snakes123]

If that had not happened I probably would not have become so fascinated by this lovely animals

That happens to me allot. If i wasn't chased by a red belly when i was 5 i probably would have never new about this website and been fascinated with reptiles. I have been noticing lately that the smallest things you can change your life completely.

Ben

 

[sookie]

Sometimes its a whole build up of little things that can lead to a whole life changing course.it is easy to see the one big moment when it all became clear,but all the little things leading up to the big moment we hardly notice.

 

[snakes123]

Yep.

 

[Kyro]

My 11 yr old daughter recently had a very close call, she & her older brother had gone for a short bushwalk down to the local creek & on the way back they were walking up the hill backwards because it's supposedly easier, well she saw something flick out past her leg & thought it was just a stick but when she spun around she realised it was an adult RBB. As soon as she realised she slowly backed away from it then ran home bawling her eyes out the poor little darlin. I have never seen her so terrified but I think she learnt a big lesson, do not walk backwards through the bush lol.

 

[snakes123]

Another one.

If anyone knows Wideview rock climbing at the end of Wideview RD in Berowra, well this is where it happened.

My friend and i were walking along the 20 meter cliff right next to the edge. My friend steps on the leaves of a black boy getting her inside foot caught in the leaves and nearly fell over the edge. i hate heights so i was already scared but this has made me watch out when ever im walking anywhere that is taller than me... :/

Ben

Another one.

If anyone knows Wideview rock climbing at the end of Wideview RD in Berowra, well this is where it happened.

My friend and i were walking along the 20 meter cliff right next to the edge. My friend steps on the leaves of a black boy getting her inside foot caught in the leaves and nearly fell over the edge. i hate heights so i was already scared but this has made me watch out when ever im walking anywhere that is taller than me... :/

Ben

 

[longqi]

Blue Banded Krait is very small but pretty deadly 500mm is a BIG one
Killed two people just in Bali last year

Its a land snake usually only found at ground level

 

[Audio_anthrax]

Ahh so i stand corrected, it isnt a relative of the sea snake ^_^

 

[kawasakirider]

Cars:
The year before last I was in a car with my mate and we rolled 3 times at 100. Just missed a powerpoll and we hit a tree, which stopped us from rolling anymore. If the tree wasn't there we woulda gone off an embankment and down into a creek. My gf was in the back if the car and she's lucky to have survived. There was about 3 grand worth of tools in the back of the car (we were doing an engine conversion on my car) and tue toolbox flipped over and all the tools came out. A 3 ft long breaker bar just missed my gf's head, along with sockets, spanners, knives, etc. Very lucky. The car was ruined.

Then a few months earlier hit a tree head on at 100, the tree was lying across my side of the car winscreen, fairly scary stuff.... This accident was never meant to happen (because my mate wasn't meant to be out driving) and my mate that was driving had a hardass father... So we got a dead rabbit, cut it open and smashed it all over the front of the car and said it was a kangaroo, and then staged an accident scene elsewhere, made skid marks and threw bits of car into the bush.

When I was about 8 I crashed a brand new mustang at Sydney airport. I was there with my grandparents to pick up my uncle, who was flying in from nz. We parked next to a brand new cobra. Anyway I was raving on about it and when we finally left to go outside, the owner of the car was putting his luggage in it.

My grandfather asked him if he wouldn't mind me having a look at the car. He did one better, he sat me in the drivers seat, started it up and let me rev the ******* out of it. The parking spot infront of the mustang was empty, and beyond that was a lane between parks where the cars follow to exit the carpark.

Anyway something happened and the car took off. I ran over the guys foot, straight through the empty space and t boned an oncoming Nissan pulsar lolol. I looked up to see this young couple, the girl was NOT impressed. Then I turned around and waved at everyone through the back windscreen.

Turns out I ran over the owners foot, and my uncle and grandfather went *** up... For some reason they tried to grab onto the car. The car launched at about 7k rpm and took off fairly quick, hahaha. I don't know why they tried to grab on.

The owner of the car told us to get away from the scene of the accident as soon as possible and he would fix it all up. I'm guessing he settled the other party with cash and no insurance companies were informed, hahahaha.

Snakes:
In regards to snakes, no one here will believe this story, but I'll tell it anyway.

I came home from school during the middle of october about 4 years ago and it was a hot day, so I took my shoes, socks and shirt off and only had a pair of boxer shorts on. One of my dogs was elderly at the time, and the heat was too much, so she was an inside dog for the last few years of her life.

Anyway, I decided to let her out onto the grass for a wizz and I was standing on the verandah at the front door calling her for about 5 minutes (she was deaf). Eventually she came out (she was a maltese terrier, so only a small dog) and I shut the flyscreen door. She was at my feet growling and I looked down and a few feet away from us was a snake that I *believe* was a taipan. The house is 35km north of Gympie and there are supposed to be taipans up there. It was a really light golden colour and its head was even lighter, it's body fairly slender but around 6 ft long. It could have been a brown, but someone told me that taipans are occasionally seen, and I've seen a couple of browns out there and they look darker. The pics I've seen of taipans look very similar to the snake that scared (I won't say attacked) me.

Anyway I scooped down really quickly and grabbed my dog like a football and at that moment it lunged at us and it brushed my arm, ddin't bite, but it touched me. Anyway, I was frantic and screaming out for help while dancing around and it kept striking (but not close enough that it could get me, since I've been researching snakes, I've seen videos of them bluffing). My grandfather came to the door and banged it with his walking stick and the snake struck at the flyscreen.

As soon as I jumped over the garden bed and got out of its way, it took off straight away. I doubt it wanted to get me, because it was so close it could have at any point. Has anyone else experienced an adult snake snap at them but not actually bite?

The two next stories are from when I lived in Tasmania...

I was walking to my neighbours house, who lived up the hill and I didn't realise they weren't home. Anyway I had no shoes on, it was a VERY hot day (yes, they do get hot days down there ) the next thing I know, people were yelling at me to run and I turned to see my neighbours driving up the road yelling at me. Anyway I was in long grass so I had no idea what was happening and kept walking (lol) and they sped past me. The mother ran out of her ute holding a shovel and was sprinting toward me and I was like ***, and she killed a tiger snake exactly where I was. They all saw it and said it followed me for about 15 meters. It was a big snake, too. Now, I don't think it wanted to get me, because I was only going at walking pace, but perhaps I disturbed it and it was curious?

The second one is also fairly unbelievable, but it did happen. My grandmother was mowing the front part of the lawn with a push mower, and my grandfather (who has chronic arthritis and couldn't get to her) was yelling that a snake was coming toward her. She is deaf, and the sound of the lawnmower drowned out the sound of my grandfathers yells, anyway he threw something at her to get her attention and a large black snake (would have been a tiger, we didn't see anything else on our property town there) was going straight toward the lawnmower. She ran away, leaving the lawnmower running and the snake went straight toward it and kept on going.

You guys don't have to believe these snake stories, as I know they seem far fetched (especially the part about the large brown or taipan touching me) but I have no reason to lie. I've always been interested in snakes, sharks, crocodiles and fast bikes/cars though.... Anything to get the blood pumping is good.

This is quite a cool video, obviously the snake wanted to be left alone, but after provocation it really chased for a fair way. I'd hate to be in this situation and fall over hahaha.

YouTube - Don't chase Brown Snakes (Pseudonaja nuchalis)

My 11 yr old daughter recently had a very close call, she & her older brother had gone for a short bushwalk down to the local creek & on the way back they were walking up the hill backwards because it's supposedly easier, well she saw something flick out past her leg & thought it was just a stick but when she spun around she realised it was an adult RBB. As soon as she realised she slowly backed away from it then ran home bawling her eyes out the poor little darlin. I have never seen her so terrified but I think she learnt a big lesson, do not walk backwards through the bush lol.

This is true, it's much easier to walk backward up a hill lol!

 

[Snakewoman]

Back in 2006 I was on a train on the way up to Melbourne, the train was nearing Corio station when suddenly there was a loud thud. The next thing I know the carriage is shaking and there are rocks and debris flying everywhere. There were so many rock flying past both sides of the train, moving very quickly, and I remember a thought popping into my head that if those rocks started coming through the windows I was going to be dead.

When I first heard the thud the driver of the train took a while to put the brakes on, and then released them, and applied them again. I later found out that he was new to the job, he must have been given a real fright. When the train finally stopped everyone was very quiet, and just sat still. Luckily nobody on the train was hurt. A lady sitting a bit further up in the carriage from me stood up, looked out the window and swore. I stood up at looked down at the front of the train where I saw a white Holden Commodore... well, what was left of it. The back half was wedged underneath the front of the train. The driver got out and went to inspect the situation, and when he did, I went to the other side of the train and stuck my head out the door where I saw the other half of the car's twisted metal and various engine parts trapped under the train's wheels.

One man who worked for Vline told us there wasn't anyone in the car but I'd seen two firefighters walk up the the front of the train. One stood back while the other went to look at the car. He then looked back and the other man and shook his head. The expression on his face told me there was in fact someone there and they were dead. The SES turned up later and put black tarp over the car.

On a different train trip after the accident a Vline staff member was speaking to me about the accident and said the trains usually traveled at about 90k's through that crossing, and I can't help thinking that the train could possibly have derailed that day and I could have been killed along with a packed train of people on their way to see the football. I managed to find out who the deceased man was and went to his funeral, I figured since I was there when he died that it was the right thing to do, and I also thought it might help me deal with what happened, and it did. Sorry for the long story.

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

Congrats on your near-life experience! Since it didn't kill you, you will be stronger for it!