Thread: Snakes alive and this is a big muver!

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

jeez. I'm gonna have to get the whoppa stoppa out again. c'mon guys you havent seen 8/9' king browns and similar sized tigers or taipans......they just dont exist.....dont argue with me.....consult the experts.....huge spiders and snakes exist in peoples minds. Check Australia Zoo, they have heaps of snake info. That picture has been circulating for ages and I think it gets bigger everytime it reappears.

Sorry, but you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I have a few snake books and they can grow up to 2.5 m normally with some being seen at 3m. I go and catch snakes regularly at work. It is definately not the norm but they do exist and generally stay away from people. Generally the ones we catch are under 2ft. Most often juvenilles. It is rare to actually encounter and adult. Last King Brown I saw over 8 ft was in Feb at around 2100 pm and was minimum 8ft and I know this because I parked the Nissan utealongside it to gauge its length. The reason most people dont see them is generally King Browns are nocturnal and depending on time of year can be diurnal.
Also come down to the South of WA 6ft plus Tigers are very common.
If Australia Zoo reckon they dont exist then they need to get out our way a bit more and consult some snake experts that have confirmed evidence of snakes this big.
If you want to call me a liar fine, but on most occassions I have had other witnesses.
Olive Pythons are known to get over 6.5m.
Australia Zoo by the sound of it actually know very little, Maybe consult a couple of experts like Steve Wilson or Gerry Swan who are experts in the field. I can name a few more that can verify snakes this size.
If you want to confirm sizes contact your state museum reptile experts.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

HI Craig, no need to fire up, I called no one a liar. We agree on amethystine python length recorded at 8.5m . My info on Tiger is 2m. max recorded length. taipan3.35m. King Brown 2.82m and an exceptional common brown at 2.3m These are maximum recorded size and are no where near normal sizes. Mans greatest fears are fire, snakes, spiders and when seen in a panic situation their sizes grow exponentially. Hence the whoppa stoppa.

Thats all fine, not fired up and all is good, I was teasing a bit too but you have pretty much contradicted your original statement, which I undertook you to be saying 8/9ft snakes, but I may be wrong, with those figures Tiger 2m=nearly 7ft, but I have seen many over that size in both SA on the Murray and SW WA. The problem with Tigers is there are so many types around OZ. One was around 10ft being conservative and that was witnessed by at least 20 people at Munglinup Beach WA, King Brown the main snake that was quoted 2.82m = over 9ft and I know of 1 confirmed at just over 3m, Common brown 2.3m = 7 1/2ft, Taipan 3.35m = 11ft, so none of what has been said is exactly exaggerating 7-9ft for common snakes is likely. A lot bigger for some pythons up to 25ft.
I absolutely agree these are not the size snakes people often see, but that does not mean they are not common, as I have said adults tend to stay away from people, juveniles that have no fear so are seen more often. Most of the ones we pick up are less than 2ft, the bigger ones take off fairly quick and go into hiding.
Those of us that spend a fair bit of time outdoors at night and near food and water supplies tend to see a lot more. Mine site often have mice problems so attract snakes. The majority of snakes are mostly nocturnal.
However we actually had to escort a King Brown across a road a couple of months back, he got to the road and got a bit disorientated so fast attack red and blues on parked across road and gave him time standing behind him to get across the road, showed no aggression at all and still showing juvenile markings at around 5ft.
We had to kill a Western Brown in Kambalda some years ago as it was in the house and showing agression, though obviously looking for water. Measured dead was 2.15m so around 7ft, the other snake with it was at least 1ft longer that went on its own way.
Yes obviously the pic in question is a fake.
The problem is often documenting big snakes as most often you dont have a camera and even then scale is an issue.
I generally dont exagerate as snakes do not bother me, rather I have a bit of a fascination with them, though avoid poisonous ones where I can.
All good this end but snakes up to 10ft are not myth.