Thread: Living with snakes

From Westprint Friday.

Peter Mirtschin, Managing Director, Ophiobioscience Pty Ltd
Spring is the time for snakes to become active again, and for thinking about how to live with them.
The benefits of snakes
Snakes are very efficient rodent catchers, and keep the rodent population, and our pesticide use, down. Snakes help keep a predator–prey balance. They form part of the natural biodiversity in our local environment.
The risks of snakes
Anecdotal evidence indicates that we probably increase risks to ourselves by removing or killing snakes. New snakes move in. They take a while to adapt to us and our movements, and are far more likely to bite if we inadvertently approach them. Formal research has not been conducted to prove this is the case.

The Common Brown Snake Pseudonaja textilis is an efficient hunter of rodents accounting for a significant proportion of their total cull. Photo: Peter Mirtschin
The danger real or imagined.
The main thing to know is that snake bite is rare, and death is even rarer. A little knowledge and a lot of awareness are your main defences against snake bite:

• Don’t approach or handle or disturb snakes. Leave them alone
• Do not place any part of your body in any area where visibility is poor
• Use a torch or other lighting when moving around at night
• When you see a snake, keep movements slow, never sudden
• If snakes have to be removed, call a snake catcher
• Monitor young children and pets
• Keep pets in snake-proof enclosures when they are unattended, and avoid the veterinary bills

Removing snakes
It’s your decision whether or not to remove snakes. In certain workplaces, houses, bird aviaries or some sheds, snakes do need to be removed. However, in poultry pens they control rodents without worrying the chickens or eating their eggs. They can live in harmony with most people in many situations. More and more people are doing this, and enjoying and benefitting from the presence of snakes.
If you do decide to remove snakes, use snake catchers unless you have adequate training. Snake catchers are formally trained to safely catch snakes and remove them from areas where they are not wanted.
Snakes and our environment
Snakes are part of a viable of our environment and its diverse animal life. Forcing them into extinction will only add to the growing list of lost species. They are fascinating creatures and simply want a place to live their lives.

Top 5 things you need to do if you get bitten by a snake

All Australians need to know what to do if bitten by a snake. Snakes usually bite defensively, rather than actively attacking humans and most bites occur when people try to remove snakes from their own yards and gardens.
Information from Department of health.
1. Call an ambulance immediately

You should treat any snake bite as an emergency, regardless of whether you think the snake was venomous or not. Many snakes look similar, and if you wait to see if you feel symptoms of venom poisoning, it might be too late by the time you get help.
What to do
You need to stay as still as possible, so rather than running for a phone, use a mobile phone or have someone else go and call for help. Call Triple Zero (000) and ask for an ambulance, or use the Emergency+ app to call an ambulance. This app uses GPS functionality on mobile phones to help the emergency services know exactly where you are.
2. Don’t panic and don’t move

While it’s easier said than done, staying calm and still after a snake bite can help slow down the spread of venom in your body. If you’ve been bitten by a poisonous snake, not moving might save your life.
It’s a myth that snake venom gets straight into your blood stream after a bite. Instead, it moves through your lymphatic system. Lymph is a fluid in your body that contains white blood cells. Unlike blood, which is pumped around your body continuously, your lymph moves when you move your limbs. If you can stay still and calm, you can prevent the venom in your lymph traveling further into your body.
What to do
If you’re sure the snake has moved away after biting you and you’re not in danger of being bitten again, remain where you are, rather than walking to get help. If you’re with other people, they shouldn’t move you at all, but start administering first aid where you are.
Take long, deep breaths to help calm yourself down. Remember that the odds are in your favour: it’s rare for people to die after being bitten by a snake, especially if they follow first aid steps.
3. Leave the snake alone

Don’t try to identify, catch, injure or kill the snake – you’re likely to come off second best. At the hospital, staff have access to a range of tests that can help them determine the likely snake which you have been bitten by, enabling them to give you the most appropriate treatment.
4. Apply a pressure immobilisation bandage and splint

Most snake bites occur on a limb, so legs, feet, arms and hands are most commonly affected. If you’ve been bitten on a limb, applying a pressure immobilisation bandage can stop the venom moving through your lymphatic system.
What to do
If you’ve got a pad or even a piece of plastic like cling wrap, put it over the bite site to either soak up or protect the venom for later testing.
Apply a pressure immobilisation bandage by following the steps below:

• use an elasticised roller bandage that is 10-15cm wide
• roll bandage over the bite site
• apply a second elasticised roller bandage, starting just above the fingers or toes and moving upwards on the bitten limb as far as the bandage will reach
• apply the bandage as tightly as possible to the limb
• if you don’t have a bandage handy, any stretchy material will do (torn up t-shirts, stockings or other fabric can be used as a bandage)

Once the bandage is on, mark the bite site on the bandage with a pen or other substance that will leave a mark – if you’ve got nothing else on you, putting a little mud or dirt on the bandage will work. Then, splint the limb to keep it still. Any straight object will do – a stick, rolled up newspaper or even firmly rolled up clothes or tarps can all work. Fix the splint in place by securing it to the limb with bandages or other material.
If you’ve been bitten on your head, neck or torso, you don’t need to put on a pressure immobilisation bandage.
There’s no substitute for learning first aid in-person, so if it’s been awhile since you last did a course, or you’ve never done one, make it a priority to book in.
There are a lot of old methods of treating snake bites that are now known to cause more harm than good.
Washing the snake bite site can wash off venom that the hospital staff may be able to use to identify the type of snake that bit you.
Do not suck or cut the bite area.
Do not apply a tourniquet to the limb – this can be dangerous.

Originally Posted by trout1105

99.99% of the time if you leave the snakes alone and don't get threatening or aggressive towards them they are harmless most of the time.

Yep .Darwin 1980, Fogg dam. Took my 2nd son on my shoulders to check out some parrots, luckily habit meant I was checking the path ahead. Almost stepped on what I identified as a Taipan , I froze midstep, crapped myself. Snake had flattened out and was tensed in such a way as to strike, I slowly , very slowly , backed off. Took a few green cans to settle my nerves.