Are There Really Lots Of Snakes In Australia?

One of the images Australia has around many parts of the world is that of possessing an alarming array of creepy and dangerous animals. This notion can scare some people off even thinking of visiting, but for others it excites, and challenges them to explore and to conquer. 

As one might expect, having grown up in Australia I had not seen anything particularly unusual about my surrounds or unusually dangerous about my surrounds. There weren’t many kangaroos where I was from and not a lot of the other typical marsupials to talk about either. There were plenty of insects, spiders, frogs and introduced mice though and this laid the foundation for an abundance of food for snakes.

"Watch out for snakes! is what my brothers and I would hear from our mother anytime before we would go for a walk in the warmer months. We lived on a sheep and grain farm in almost marginal country in the state of Victoria's North, so the warmer months were from September through to April - eight months of the year. It was just a way of life to be aware of and surrounded by snakes and I've probably seen hundreds in my lifetime.

Many of Australia’s snakes are venemous, deadly in fact, and our local snake was near the top of the list. An aggressive snake with venom that is neurotoxic, procoagulant, cardiotoxic, haemotoxic and rots the flesh as it travels through the body from the bite site. It’s venemous from the moment it comes out of the egg and has a very fast striking speed. This particular snake, the Eastern Brown Snake, grows up to about eight feet long, can be very timid and fearful of people. But unfortunately on top of its timidity it has a curious streak as well.

I remember my first experience with the ‘Brownie’s’ curiosity as a four year old sitting at the dining table during our evening meal. With my younger brother still in a high chair and my older brother and parents enjoying a rest, we were eating typical roast lamb and veggies for our ‘tea’. I looked to the left of me down the hallway and saw a large brown snake with the first half of its body off the ground coming towards us to see what we were doing. I matter-of-factly said to my mother, ‘Look Mum, a snake’. Not picking up any alarm in my voice she brushed it aside and just casually looked over to see what I was talking about. To her surprise I was right. A six foot Eastern Brown snake was coming towards us at walking speed with its head at hip height.

With my mother then believing me and letting out a subsequent yelp, my dad said, ‘Everybody outside!’ Dad grabbed my baby brother as we all ran past the snake to get out the door. Dad came back inside with a shovel to fix the situation. We found out later that the snake had flattened itself under a gap in the external laundry door to get inside the house. I was too young to remember when another snake did the same thing a couple of years before.

Snakes really are a part of life in rural Australia and everyone’s lifestyle makes allowances for this phenomenom. The local school that I attented had snakes frequently going through the grounds and consequently there were always tools on hand to deal with any snakes that might stray too close to children. On one particular warm day I was playing with another boy on the playground and we saw a five foot Brown looking around the equipment. ‘Snake!’ I yelled and we ran to the staff room to alert a teacher. Other students saw us running and instinctively knew what was up and followed along. I rapped on the office door and our Physical Education teacher came out and we told him the problem. ‘Okay boys’, he said, ‘grab a whip!’ There were three twisted thick wire whips about six feet long leaning up against the wall next to the staff room door, along with a shovel, for such occasions. The teacher took one whip, I and another student grabbed the other two and another student grabbed the shovel. Being about fourteen years old we all ran pretty quickly with the teacher back to the spot where the snake was. It was still there trying to find mice around the logs partially buried in the ground. We surrounded the snake and the teacher gave the whip a swing and hit its tail, cutting it off. I then swung and connected with the snake almost cutting it in half. Then the boy with the shovel stabbed the snake with the blade just below the head putting it out of its misery. ‘Well done boys,’ said the teacher. It was quite a bonding moment. I looked up toward the school buildings and I realised that the whole primary school section was having assembly not far away watching the entire show.

Occasionally one does forget the rules of living with snakes and the practice of always looking where you step before you put your foot down can slip your mind. My mother used to pick juvenile field peas from a paddock for the table sometimes, as they tasted quite nice at that stage. It was a warm spring day and we were on our way home from town and she decided to stop at the side of the road by a crop. We all raced out of the car with containers in hand and I leaped into the grass-filled sidecut thinking more about peas than snakes. I stepped right on top of a large brownie and pinned him to the ground with my shoe. It wriggled trying to get free, banging my shins with its long body between my bare legs. As I bent my knees to spring away from him time slowed down and I considered my situation, ‘If I get bitten, which I’m sure I’m about to be, we can all get in the car, and drive fast to the hospital which will be about half an hour away and get some antivenom and save my life.’ Well, I did eventually jump away and to my surprise I was not bitten. I was very relieved, and we also still had peas as part of our meal.

As part of our upbringing in Australia we are told what to do if you are bitten by a snake. Snake awareness education and First Aid courses include this important knowledge on what to do should such an unfortunate thing happen. How to bandage a limb if a Jo Blake sinks its fangs into your skin. My closest call with a snake unfortunately would not have been able to utilise this knowledge. I was clearing an old fence on the family farm and was picking up old wooden fence posts and throwing them onto the back of the ‘ute’. As I held up one of the old logs at head height I saw right in front of my eyes the mid section of a brownie coiling inches from my face. Time slowed once again and I remember thinking, ‘Why can’t I let this log go any faster?’ No amount of knowledge about how to apply a pressure bandage to a snake bite would help me if it bit me on the neck. I thankfully did drop the log and snake with it in good time and jumped away. The snake came out and was not happy, assuming the aggressive coiled spring-like, ‘I’m going to bite you if you don’t back off,’ posture. It was then I realised how beautiful this snake was. I stood at a safe distance and looked at its unusual light and dark brown speckled patterns for an Eastern Brown. It had its mouth open threateningly but I foolishly decided to poke it with a stick anyway to make it move and get a better view of it. It decided to make for cover in the chassis of my nearby ute and stay in there. This might have been okay except that it was home time and I had to get into that vehicle and drive it home. Needless to say I opened the door and got into the ute with lightning speed and slammed the door. I had to do this a couple of more times though -- each time I drove through another paddock and opened and shut its gate to get to the road. I was glad to get home alive.

Some say that you’re not a true Australian if you don’t have a personal snake story to tell. I think this could be true as I don’t personally know anyone who doesn’t have a snake yarn. It is a common topic of conversation. But does this make Australia a more dangerous place? I know, and know of, a few people who have been bitten by snakes, but no-one has died. Sure, other people have, but it’s usually their own fault when trying to pick them up or something stupid like that. There are risks wherever you live. Right now I couldn’t live with bears in Canada but I’m sure I’d get used to it if I had to. I don’t live in an area with crocodiles and don’t want to, but if I did I’d figure out a way to survive. I don’t know any place that is beautiful and doesn’t have some dangers associated with it. Yes, this place has areas that are essentially crawling with snakes but I love this country and I’ll sacrifice some peace of mind to experience its beauty any day.