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September 26, 2001
Overland Australia - Update 53
September 26, 2001
Day 65
from April
“This is the most poisonous snake in Australia,” Rex, of the Alice Springs Reptile Centre, informed the group. The Inland Taipan crawled over his boot and between his feet over the tile floor. “Of course, I’ve handled this one each day since I’ve had it,” he reminded us. He then recounted the effects of being bitten by his Eastern Brown a few months earlier. The symptoms were horrific and made one appreciate the availability of today’s anti-venom.
The world's most deadly snake - the Inland Taipan - getting brekky down th nekky
Perhaps the most informative of the Reptile Centre’s program was the part dealing with snake identification. Todd and I had interviewed Rex previously about Australian reptiles and now watched in amazement as he deftly handled the venomous variety, demonstrating for the group feeding techniques for his deadly charges. Opening the front glass case, he held the frozen mouse with tongs about half a metre off the nose of the Eastern Brown that had bitten him. She struck the mouse with such rapidity it wasn’t discernible. If the mouse had been alive, it would’ve been dead within minutes. “Humans are lucky in that, if bitten, they can live up to three days in most instances,” Rex went on matter of factly. “But you need medical attention as soon as you can get it, “ he added.
As Todd and I biked back to the group, we were in thought about what we’d just witnessed, especially the section dealing with snakebite! And, we were about to enter one of the ‘snakiest’ regions along our route! “It makes me think twice about bailing off into the spinifex to pee,” I told him. “Yeah, ignorance isn’t as intimidating as knowing too much, “ he laughed. Thus far, we’d seen hardly a snake the entire route and we’d come through some rather snakey country. But, we are now in the Red Centre, biking through the Tanami Desert, and we’d heard in Hermannsburg that ‘the snakes are out!’
As I gazed up the road outside Rabbit Flat, the lead bikers had stopped in the middle of the road. My initial reaction was that they’d experienced another flat tire. We pulled up alongside and, at that point, I gazed at the longest, fattest snake I’d ever seen in the wild. It was a Western Brown, recently run over, laying outstretched in the road. Mike cautiously opened its mouth with the end of his Bob flag as we peered, fascinated, over his shoulder. We guessed its length at approximately six feet. After taking care of the snake, we headed for Rabbit Flat, quite impressed by the episode.
Yesterday, we had another encounter of a more lively kind. I was leading the group when I biked past the nose of another in the ‘brown snake’ collection! Taken by surprise, I hollered back ‘SNAKE! CAMERAS! SNAKE!” The snake, being rather shy, lay on the road shoulder as Todd and Jason moved in for the camera shot. Suddenly, hit with camera shyness, ‘she’ swivelled around and headed for the brush. Following at a suitable distance, the two moved after her, hoping for a better camera angle. The snake wasn’t too keen to be photographed and took shelter under a bush. Unable to coax her into a better light, we left the snake to continue on our way.
It has become evident that we are now able to put Rex’s excellent information to good use, but hopefully, from a distance!
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Posted on September 26, 2001 2:39 PM