Ssssssssnakes

No discussion of dangerous Aussi wildlife could possibly be complete without mentioning snakes. It is true that four of the five deadliest snakes are Australian, but this is based pretty much on the toxicity of their venom. So yes, if you get bit by one, you'd better have antivenom handy or you will be in trouble.

But snakes here are different to those in other parts of the world in that they are generally nonaggressive. There are some species of taipans and tiger snakes down south that can be aggressive, but here in Queensland, brown snakes of various descriptions are the most common, and these are deadly but nonaggressive. You have to stand on them or pick them up before they will bite you. So it really is a myth that Australia is full of deadly snakes.

I regularly see brown snakes when I'm running in the woods. I wear gators for this reason, to offer some basic protection just in case, but I've never managed to get too close to one; as soon as they hear you coming, they will move away.



The other snakes I encounter on occasions are sea snakes. They are pretty common in the water here and you will see them when you are diving on coral out at the reef. They are highly venomous, but have tiny mouths and can only really bit you on extremities, so as long as you are wearing flippers and keep your hands clear, you are OK. Plus they are nonagressive.

Because of the tides and wind, and that we are inside the reef, the water around Tannum Sands is generally quite low visibility, clear for swimming, but not really good for seeing much when snorkling. However on occasions, usually on a clear morning at slack tide, we can have very clear water. On those rare occasions, you can see a lot of small reef fish on the rocks just in front of the beach and I will take a mask and snorkle down and float around among the rocks.

The other morning I was down there and ran into a sea snake. Because the water was quite shallow, and I was in a narrow channel between some rocks, I couldn't really go anywhere, but backwards. The snake was going in the same direction though, so I ended up having to move right over and let him past. I decide that I've had enough snorkling for the day and head back to the beach, whereupon I run into a second sea snake. In fact they are probably common, but you just don't see them if the water isn't absolutely clear.

There are a lot of harmless snakes here as well, tree snakes are pretty common in our area, and down in Brisbane a lot of old houses have resident carpet snakes, which are a small python. In times past they were accepted living in the roof, because they killed rats and mise.

So the other day, we're having a meeting at our offices. We have a pretty laid back workplace, and our conference table is set up outside on the deck (we have lunch there as well). Anyway midway through the meeting, we hear a scream from inside the building. Paul, our programmer, comes leaping out the window yelling loudly. Fortunately its a ground floor window. He calms down and tells us there is a snake in his office. It had put its head through the narrow gap under the closed office door tand he'd looked down to see it coming in. He didn't wait around to identify it, but vacated immediately via the only other exit which was the window.


The snakebusters soon chased what turned out to be a harmless tree snake out of the office and into the park next door. It demonstrated its climing skills when crossing the fence and then vanished up a tree. Impressive to watch them moving straight up the side of a large tree, somehow managing to hold on to the bark with their scales.