Snake bites

[Elapidae1]

No, because I'm too smart to pick up wild vens.

Some of our most respected herpetologists started out like this.

Or dumbest person alive...

Why?

Nar mate never happened to me. Not a idiot.

So every person that ever decided to pick up a venomous snake is an idiot?

Oh I had a troll doll with green hair many years ago. I have been catching venomous reptiles for over 8 years and never had one come back on me .

Really? thats some awesome ninja you have going on.

If your that incompentient at catching a relatively easy species of ven...why do it?. And to this day im yet to see a snake "jump around"

How else do you become competent? Maybe not the best choice of words but I can understand why someone would describe a snake coming back on itself quickly in defence as "jumping around"

Gee up or not, for some, catching wild snakes is the only way to pursue their interest and fascination with our countries beautiful reptiles, a large number of the notable people within the hobby and/or scientific community etc have a story exactly the same as this, are they all idiots? hell anybody that keeps or has anything to do with venomous snakes must be an idiot going by some of the above comments.

I would just say understand the animal and the consequences as best you can, keep pressure bandages handy and know how to use them, show and treat the animal with the respect it deserves and understand your limitations with handling them, the consequences could be huge but at the end of the day the choice is yours regardless of what others think of you. People have gone from catching their first ven to turning that fascination in to lifelong and rewarding careers and lives.

 

[mysnakesau]

..... are they all idiots? .....

Yes.









But our whole life thrives on risks. If you don't get bitten by a dangerous animal, you can trip over your own feet and break a bone or two, or go to sleep and never wake up. I scored a broken finger from walking my dog. So is there really something that is more dangerous than other things?

 

[jonas]

...Umm you become competient by spending time with the guys that know what there doing and learn the right way. I've got nothing against elapids, I keep and have caught quite a few. Its people who have limited knowledge of catching that get end up getting tagged and give everyone else a bad name.

 

[Elapidae1]

LOL what guys are they and who did they spend time with?

 

[mysnakesau]

The experts before them, I guess.

 

[pythonboy1212]

thanks for that Elapidae1 you guys can call me a idiot its my choice and what are you going to do about and didnt ask you to comment paying me out.

 

[jonas]

So elapidae1..your saying its fine for people with limited knowledge to go out in the field and start catching vens because "thats how the old guys did it"? Wow..great example your setting mate..no wonder theres so many bites. Im not calling you an idiot pythonboy but if your having vens almost tag you it doesnt sound to safe.

 

[waruikazi]

Elapidae i find your comments very irrisponsible.

The difference between 'our most respected herpetologists' and our up coming herpers is that in the 70's 80's and 90's the only way to get experience was to either have a friend herpetologist or go out and do it on your own. When i was 8 years old my friends and i went out and did it on our own, my two friends both got tagged and spent days in hospital. There is no need now to go out and do it on your own in most states of Australia. There are a tonne of different courses that anyone can pay to do in a safer environment. The methods taught are usually P) safe, ethical, tried and tested.

Just because we did it on our own doesn't mean that it is ok for newbies to do it too. You only have to look at the OP's latest comment to see that what you are encouraging is irrisponsible and dangerous. And just for the record i did end up doing two courses.

Some of our most respected herpetologists started out like this.


How else do you become competent? Maybe not the best choice of words but I can understand why someone would describe a snake coming back on itself quickly in defence as "jumping around"

Gee up or not, for some, catching wild snakes is the only way to pursue their interest and fascination with our countries beautiful reptiles, a large number of the notable people within the hobby and/or scientific community etc have a story exactly the same as this, are they all idiots? hell anybody that keeps or has anything to do with venomous snakes must be an idiot going by some of the above comments.

I would just say understand the animal and the consequences as best you can, keep pressure bandages handy and know how to use them, show and treat the animal with the respect it deserves and understand your limitations with handling them, the consequences could be huge but at the end of the day the choice is yours regardless of what others think of you. People have gone from catching their first ven to turning that fascination in to lifelong and rewarding careers and lives.

 

[Bel03]

thanks for that Elapidae1 you guys can call me a idiot its my choice and what are you going to do about and didnt ask you to comment paying me out.

I think you will find that people are basically just trying to tell you that what you are doing is very dangerous! You are obviously a kid, & kids need guidence, if we all just got on here & said 'no mate, hasnt happened to us, but good on you for giving it a go'.......we could all possibly live with the guilt of your death/injury on our heads. Where are your parents? Are they aware of the fact that you go out & play with dangerous snakes? You ask 'what are we going to do about it'.......well obviously nothing, you dont want to listen to people's advice on why you shouldnt do this, so i will just say, goodluck & make sure you leave a detailed description for your parents of your whereabouts next time you head out for an adventure.......they just may need to come rescue you.

 

[pythonboy1212]

frist of all l do have knowledge my dad always catches them l have seen him catch and remove them from in and around our yard you could just say what a l doing is wrong but no all yous just strat calling me an idiot.

 

[slim6y]

frist of all l do have knowledge my dad always catches them l have seen him catch and remove them from in and around our yard you could just say what a l doing is wrong but no all yous just strat calling me an idiot.

I'm not going to call you an idiot - but I do think you have an invincible complex - which is somethin gmany males up to the age of 25 have... It does weed out the 'fittest' and often young males die from stupidity - like speeding, jumping off high heights into a river - all this to get attention of females (whether you know it or not - it's bred into your subconscious and many males don't have the choice).

Unfortunately - venomous snakes are highly unpredictable. But, with time, their unpredictability can turn to slightly more predictable.

Now - I have known (and seen) an experience herpetologist come off second best to one of the most venomous snakes in the world... (some of you will know what I'm talking about)... So it can happen to even the BEST of us!

My advice - and I say this with our nature in mind... WATCH them... Don't pick them up.. OBSERVE them... ENJOY them - but LEAVE THEM ALONE... It's that simple... I got more of a thrill from watching a red belly slither into the sugar cane than trying to chase after it... Seeing a taipan scoot off into the long grass than trying to tail it... Watching a 4.5m scrubby slither off the road in the night - I stood behind it to make sure NO one else decided to swerve and hit it... And it safely moved into the garden iof a neighbouring house...

That - that is satisfying... What you did - well, frankly, is unnecessary!

So, I didn't call you an idiot, though I agree with some people here who have said some stern words... But bare it in mind, it is illegal to catch protected species of Australian wildlife...

 

[mysnakesau]

pythonboy what you did was stupid. The people who have posted here have only been concerned for your safety. Read your opening post. You sound proud that you nearly got bitten. Yeah, I guess it can be fun getting lots of attention, go to hospital and get out of school for a few days but the first time you get tagged, you will be wishing you'd listened. You might then agree that pehaps you were an idiot. You were cautioned but you went ahead anyway.

Just because you dad does it, doesn't make you an expert. You need to educate yourself on these animals before you take them for granted. Plenty of information on the internet. Read up and learn what you are dealing with.

 

[DHoffmann]

frist of all l do have knowledge my dad always catches them l have seen him catch and remove them from in and around our yard you could just say what a l doing is wrong but no all yous just strat calling me an idiot.

Because you 'were out herping' in your own words, not in your backyard. That snake did not require to be caught to be enjoyed, rather the opposite.
What do either you or the snake gain from your handling? The snake gets stressed, frustrated and in apparently your case, angry enough to attempt to tag you. This in itself should be enough of a warning that perhaps what you were doing wasn't such a good idea.
You get.... potentially bitten and suffer the consequences mentioned above by Waruikazi. Great trade! I bet your parents would be proud when you return from herping sporting rotten taste buds, severe kidney damage and necrosis.
I've had the pleasure of coming across RBBs when out, not even necessarily herping. I watch, from a distance, and enjoy their presence. They never once felt the distinct need to turn around and attack me, and yet I got the pleasure of seeing them. Fancy that!

Also, a good read of a dictionary may assist avoiding being called an idiot. 'First', 'am', 'you', 'straight'. I'm not even going to start on your grammar...

 

[Tassie97]

I'm not going to call you an idiot - but I do think you have an invincible complex - which is somethin gmany males up to the age of 25 have... It does weed out the 'fittest' and often young males die from stupidity - like speeding, jumping off high heights into a river - all this to get attention of females (whether you know it or not - it's bred into your subconscious and many males don't have the choice).

Unfortunately - venomous snakes are highly unpredictable. But, with time, their unpredictability can turn to slightly more predictable.

Now - I have known (and seen) an experience herpetologist come off second best to one of the most venomous snakes in the world... (some of you will know what I'm talking about)... So it can happen to even the BEST of us!

My advice - and I say this with our nature in mind... WATCH them... Don't pick them up.. OBSERVE them... ENJOY them - but LEAVE THEM ALONE... It's that simple... I got more of a thrill from watching a red belly slither into the sugar cane than trying to chase after it... Seeing a taipan scoot off into the long grass than trying to tail it... Watching a 4.5m scrubby slither off the road in the night - I stood behind it to make sure NO one else decided to swerve and hit it... And it safely moved into the garden iof a neighbouring house...

That - that is satisfying... What you did - well, frankly, is unnecessary!

So, I didn't call you an idiot, though I agree with some people here who have said some stern words... But bare it in mind, it is illegal to catch protected species of Australian wildlife...

put perfectly

 

[saximus]

Haha when Slim puts on his teacher hat AND his dad hat he's unbeatable

 

[pythonboy1212]

l am not trying to sound cool l have always wanted to catch snakes my grammar is like a rats *** now can you just forget this thread was ever put up

 

[slim6y]

Haha when Slim puts on his teacher hat AND his dad hat he's unbeatable

There was also the honest hat there too...

I LOVED watching that scrubby slither off the road... there was NO need to be a hero - so long I stood there and made sure it got their safely.

I did it with a BTS in Freshwater one night too - I saw it on the road, I had my torch out and direct traffic around it... It didn't need me to pick it up - it was fine... and off it went...

One night up a favourite Cairns herping spot, I parked my car in the middle of the road to slow boy racers from going around the corner as a small coastal carpet took a night stroll on the warm tarmac....

I suppose in ALL cases I could have aggravated the snake and picked it up... But what was the need? No one (or snake) was getting hurt...

Something more Aussies (especially males) need to learn...

There was a case in NSW a few years back, alcohol was a factor... A young man went to pick up a blue-tongue lizard... Unfortunately, it bit him.. and it wasn't a blue tongue lizard... It was a death adder.... And don't make judgements just yet - EVEN sober they're hard to tell apart at dusk or even daytime in grass....

l am not trying to sound cool l have always wanted to catch snakes my grammar is like a rats *** now can you just forget this thread was ever put up

Good on yer - Enjoy them, know them, understand them, train to catch them then catch them and relocate them... What could eb more rewarding?

Patience is a virtue - you will be there one day if you don't go picking up highly venomous elapids and don't get past your next birthday!

 

[mysnakesau]

l am not trying to sound cool l have always wanted to catch snakes my grammar is like a rats *** now can you just forget this thread was ever put up

Now there is a normal reaction of a child who is defeated. You didn't win any brownie points here so now you want to drop it. Don't want to listen to the lectures that could save your life because you know best. Haha, I have 4 kids, so I know what a 12yr old is like.

 

[pythonboy1212]

l dont care about brownie points if new this would bring some many haters l wouldnt of started it yer what l did was wrong yer l am defeated can l mod plase delete this thread.

 

[CamdeJong]

LOL what guys are they and who did they spend time with?

Well one of those guys was me and the others were the owner/operator and employees of the reptile park Jonas and I volunteered at, between them racking up maybe 50 to 60 years' reptile experience.