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SMH: Snake bites on the increase...
"A woman was bitten by a snake in the Blue Mountains this afternoon, the second attack today and the eighth in six days.The Ambulance Service said the jump in snake bites could reflect "the high incidence of wet, overcast but warm conditions" combined with a few dry days here and there.
Australian Reptile Park general manager Mary Rayner said last month the park had recorded a "huge increase" in snake-identification requests on its website, as well as many phone calls.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/week-of-the-snake-bite...
Worth a read before you head out in the bush today: Australian Snake Bites - Treatment
http://www.anaes.med.usyd.edu.au/venom/snakebite...
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When I was at Stromlo , after the 10 & 30 km had finish I went around the track for a clean up & one about 3 feet long was sunny itself on the fire road on the way back to the finish line all I know it was black
The last few months , and they all look Very Healthy with Vivid red under Black , Beautiful .......Must be heaps of slow fat rats this summer . Yet to see a Brown though , most unusual in my neck of the woods .
Its just the weather doing it. Its been almost perfect weather and they seem to be active at night as well.
Not long now till it cools down and my paranoia can subside.
brownie lunged at me as me front wheel ran over its proverbial feet near the fire house...
closer encounters of a 4th kind !
Temperamental + aggressive = give a wide berth.
Hans, after reading that site and the symptoms / consequences of snake bite I'm thinking of packing an elastic bandage in my hydration pack and buying an EPIRB!
I always carry a compression bandage and other first aid items in my camelback, they are really small, you never know. Just as important is knowing what to do, and not riding alone (that last one I'm not so good at).
couldnt really avoid it when i was harrowing around a corner at speed.
ran over its tail and saw its head loop back towards my rear wheel (may have nicked the spokes).
luckily i was going at speed otherwise, i was a dead man. I luv u Cannondale !! Go Lefty !
before sunday, i spotted a brownie at the Dam a few weeks before.
careful y'all, they're out there and congregating for their AGM in our backyards
Seen a bunch of black and brown ones at the dam and red hill, good idea on the compression bandage.
or lets ban them from the trails.. that will stop them.
problem solved
I wonder how the guy yesterday applied his compression bandage after being fanged on the nose and forehead by a brown?
+1 to always carrying first aid including compression bandage. I've used my kit many times including once after being fanged on the shin. Spare tubes are also good backup compression bandages.
Don't ever underestimate the speed and anger of a brown. I have Lane Cove NP on my doorstep and used to train there daily. Now I won't ride there alone due to some near misses with extremely angry browns so now do all my work at Manly Dam where I've never seen a brown and therefore they don't exist
I have seen plenty over the years - some really big ones as well. Enjoy the nightmares!
Whilst you see more of the things on a bike as they don't hear vibrations from your footfall like they do walkers, and so don't get out of the way , bear in mind they are reluctant to waste venom on something they can't eat. 2 out of three bites are venom free. They also are a bit thick, and the chance of them actually striking your ankle and not the bike if they get a strike in at all is pretty low. If you are bitten call an ambulance immediately (pray if no coverage) as 1 in 3 is still pretty high . Stay still, use something as compression bandage (shirt,whatever) and raise bitten area to lower blood flow. Most bites in the bush are people interferring with the snake, which is usually a bit scared(the snake that is) and just wants to go home
Yeah a cut up spare tube would work great as a compression bandage.
My brother ran over a red bellied around the dam a month ago. I was right behind him and saw the poor snake trying to get out of the way. It didnt try to strike him at all. I would only be concerned if it was a brown.