Snake catching experiences

[cement]

Yes, on taking another look at my last post I see it came out a bit easy to misunderstand.
That photo was a call out the other day and goes with the title of the worst type of call out. Poor thing had a 45kg gas bottle dropped on it and had to be euthed. very sad accident. No ones fault just a horrible thing to happen. I put it up to show what we deal with at times, its not all glitz and glamour like the add for "snake boss" makes out. Makes me wonder if she belly crawls through cobweb and rat infested roof spaces........,

Each to his own Butters, I find that hooking into a bag is great and works well in a controlled environment like a pit when I'm teaching catching, but in the feild it is very rare that I have a simple hook into the bag scenario as the animal is always under or behind something, or in danger of escaping me into a more difficult spot, so straight out tailing, or hook and tail, or pinning and heading is more viable. I'm curious though to ask how often you deal with wild coastal and inland taipans in a relocation situation mate?

 

[butters]

Wild coastals to be honest I haven't dealt with for a few years but when I was up north it was a regular occurrence. The closest I have ever been to being bitten by something venomous was a coastal Tai and I as tailing hence why I tend not to do it now. I deal with captives coastals and inlands on a weekly basis and also teach catching methods albeit not in a pit.
ive only seen inlands in the field 3 times and there was no need for relocation. So to answer your question not recently for coastals and never for inlands. Get the occasional call saying there is a taipan locally but it's always turned out to be misidentified or gone. There are records from the area but I've yet to see one near Brisbane.
I agree each to their own. If it works for you great and there are situations where different methods may be a better option.

 

[Waterrat]

Hook is a great tool when dealing with captives or flipping death adders but there is no place for a hook outdoors with wild coastals or any other large elapid. The don't "ride hook" like many crotalids and vipers do and lets face it, we only have two hands: one is holding a hoop bag and the other one is manoeuvring the snake in. JMO

 

[butters]

Agreed we only have two hands and for me one is holding the bag, the other is maneuvering the snake.... most times using a hook. I would never expect a large elapid to "ride" hook but you don't always have to lift a snake to get it in a bag. I guess technique and catching methods plays a big part in a hooks usefulness. I tailed and bagged for years but find I do it less frequently now.

 

[Bluetongue1]

To express a baseless negative opinion on someone is bad enough. However, to fabricate blatant lies about someone to tell to others is a different league. It is something I cannot stomach and will not tolerate, regardless of the nature of those falsehoods.

One is left to ponder basic ethics and common decency. I have been patient but now must question the worth of continuing where these are insufficiently supported.

 

[pythoninfinite]

Interesting thread ! As a Perthite in my school years, and with a relentless interest in snakes (in particular), I could almost always guarantee I'd find at least one Dugite if I went out and looked in the right places. I always hoped I'd find a Carpet, but they are pretty thin on the ground around Perth. I have to say I was very silly in my younger years - the sense that I was bulletproof being a dangerous characteristic of the young. I brought numerous Dugites and other vens home, not always telling my parents (my father did NOT approve...) and even kept them in (probably) not very secure accommodations in my room. Stupid in hindsight, and a real risk to me and other family members in the house. On one occasion I caught a 1.5m Dugite and having nowhere to put it when I got home, dropped it (in a pillowcase) into the chooks' pellet bin. My father used to feed the chooks before he went to work, long before I got up, and the next morning he did as he usually did, the difference that day being that a large and very angry Dugite leaped up at him when he took the lid off - it had escaped from the pillowcase overnight. I was NOT popular... but it did initiate the beginning of a sensible dialogue between my parents and me, and the eventual working-out of a plan to allow me to indulge my obsession in a more safe and open way. Since those early days, I've seen numerous cases of rapid death from snakebite, and not always from the usual suspects. I would never be complacent about being bitten by any elapid, because individual sensitivities are so unpredictable - just a couple of years ago a bloke died up this way from a Stephen's Banded bite because help was unavailable for hours due to flooding (they are pugnacious damned things). Even Small-eyeds will have a decent crack at you if you interfere with them (see heaps around here at night), and I wouldn't like to be bitten by one of them. The only ven that has bitten me was a small Bardick, and it was more like a mild bee sting.

I'm glad that you are a lot more thoughtful than I was about the inherent dangers of handling vens of all sorts BF, and it sounds like you're following a workable plan to achieve your goal. Heed the advice offered here, be patient, be careful, NEVER be casual, and you should be fine. Like riding high-powered sports bikes (which I still do) - the older you get, the more you realise a split second can make the difference between life & death - judgement is everything.

Jamie

 

[BredliFreak]

Thank you for all the replies, they were informative and I enjoyed hearing the stories of your snake-catching.

I'm curious (this is off topic) about how the small eyed snakes vary geographically with their venom? Seeing as they are fairly common it would be good to know the toxicity around the south coast (we have animals and small kids around the place).

- - - Updated - - -

Oh yeah, as of now you can be a licenced snake catcher in the ACT. The government decided to change license laws, now who woulda thought?

 

[cement]

One of the most difficult things you can do is categorise venom toxicity, there are too many variables.
Do not underestimate a bite from any small eyed. Like the RSS I get the idea that they are another underrated species, but i personally don't have much info on them, maybe eipper or someone else would know.

pythoninfinite - When I heard of the poor old bloke that died from the hop bite during the floods, I wondered if he didn't know the first aid. I could never find anything on that point though, do u know if he administered it?