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Venemous?
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by Ben_de_Waal on March 27, 2002
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I moved to Australia about a year ago, and only about 3 months or so ago moved into a nice quiet little suburb right beside a national park.
Today, I walked in to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and my cat was looking at something under the table. Next thing I know, my cat gets startled and runs out of the house. I saw a snake under the table, the first ever I've seen in my life (22 years old). Not knowing if it was venemous or not, but extremely concerned for my cat, I tried to give the snake wide berth and look for my cat, but I guess the snake was freaked out by it's current predicament and came at me.
Suffice to say, I've never been more terrified in my life. I grabbed a kitchen chair and managed to somehow pin the snake down under the chairleg, I then grabbed a BIG kitchenknife and hacked the snakes head off (harder than I thought it would be!).
My cat seems fine, but I don't think he was bitten. Now I'm just curious as to whether or not the snake was poisonous or just a rather agressive non-poisonous snake.
It was about 60cm long, glossy black scales with a light brown and black striped underbelly and had quite a small sleek head with fangs about 1cm long (didn't get to see that until about half an hour later when the damn thing finally stopped wriggling).
On hindsight, I probably shouldn't have killed it and I feel sorry for it now since it was almost certainly just acting out of fear, but then again, so was I!
Regards,
Ben de Waal.
Sydney, Australia.
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RE: Venemous?
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by filthy on March 28, 2002
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Hi,
If it had fangs, it was certainly venomous. Oz is unique in having more hot species than nonvenomous. Also, some of the 'hottest' in the world. Alas, I'm not from your neck of the woods and can't give you an ID.
The best way to deal with the situation you describe is not to touch the snake in any way - most bites result from someone trying to catch or kill them. If a removal expert can't be gotten hold of, simply take a broom and sweep it into a container like a garbage can. Then it can be released well away from trouble.
Wishing luck,
f
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RE: Venemous?
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by Rabies on March 28, 2002
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Hi,a good indication for a venomous snake in australia are there "belly"scales.If there the full width of the snake then its more than likely venamous,short "belly" scales are non venamous,ie pythons.The draw back of this is you don't want to go picking up any snake to check its scales.As all ready mentioned australia has more venamous and the worlds most toxic snakes than non venamous.Hope this helps.
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