terryc wrote:
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:37:05 +0000, Jonno wrote:

Animals, fish and humans blunder onto a snake, and that's their main
objective.
To not be seen. Lunch comes their way...

Er which snakes have humans as part of their natural diet?
Even large mamals (small macropods) would be an exception.

FWIW, brown snakes take great pleasure in biting cows and their calves
in the paddock. We lost at least three or four a year to snakebite. I
don't know about black snake bite, but assume a RBB snake would bite a
large mammal if disturbed or trodden upon. That's not to say the snakes
*eat* large mammals, but they do bite them... ;-D

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Trish Brown wrote:
terryc wrote:
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:37:05 +0000, Jonno wrote:

Animals, fish and humans blunder onto a snake, and that's their main
objective.
To not be seen. Lunch comes their way...

Er which snakes have humans as part of their natural diet?
Even large mamals (small macropods) would be an exception.

FWIW, brown snakes take great pleasure in biting cows and their calves
in the paddock. We lost at least three or four a year to snakebite. I
don't know about black snake bite, but assume a RBB snake would bite a
large mammal if disturbed or trodden upon. That's not to say the
snakes *eat* large mammals, but they do bite them... ;-D

In my experience browns are much more aggressive. Blacks would rather run
than fight but I don't try to corner them to see how far I can push it!

David

That what I mean. Snakes are opportunists, and bite anything that resembles
a threat. Which of course is mother natures way of keeping the snake fed,
without being picked up by some nasty human, and of course it can defend
itself if it happens.
Mind you once a long time ago, in the Amazon jungle I nearly stood on one
about nine meters long and twelve inches across.
Err actually, if you go to the Melbourne Museum, you'll see it there. We
stuffed it and got quite a tidy sum for it...
Believe it or not....
Err I don't either....

"Robb Scott" none.no-one@invalid wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:38:07 +1100, Trish Brown

wrote:

terryc wrote:
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:37:05 +0000, Jonno wrote:

Animals, fish and humans blunder onto a snake, and that's their main
objective.
To not be seen. Lunch comes their way...

Er which snakes have humans as part of their natural diet?
Even large mamals (small macropods) would be an exception.

FWIW, brown snakes take great pleasure in biting cows and their calves
in the paddock. We lost at least three or four a year to snakebite. I
don't know about black snake bite, but assume a RBB snake would bite a
large mammal if disturbed or trodden upon. That's not to say the snakes
*eat* large mammals, but they do bite them... ;-D

Many years ago I was walking in the Lederderg Gorge in Victoria and I sat
on a rock and had a smoke while I was resting. My Labrador also had a rest
and sat beside me. After I put out my cigarette and started to stand up I
viewed an enormous brown snake lying on the rock behind us.

I gently grabbed the Labrador by the collar and guided her away and from a
distance I viewed the snake still there and apparently unperturbed by our
visit. Had we been bitten we were probably 4 hours away from medical
support.
--

/\ Regards,
\/ Robb.

Robb Scott wrote:

Many years ago I was walking in the Lederderg Gorge in Victoria and I sat
on a rock and had a smoke while I was resting. My Labrador also had a rest
and sat beside me. After I put out my cigarette and started to stand up I
viewed an enormous brown snake lying on the rock behind us.

I gently grabbed the Labrador by the collar and guided her away and from a
distance I viewed the snake still there and apparently unperturbed by our
visit. Had we been bitten we were probably 4 hours away from medical
support.

Geez! You did well to have the presence of mind to walk quietly away!
Most people would've jumped up and run away like a madman.

I had a sort of similiar experience at, of all places, a Pony Club
jamboree. My then-fiancé and I had gone for a romantic walk along the
(almost dry) riverbank. I was birdwatching with binoculars glued to my
eyes and the fiancé was patiently listening to my monologue as we walked
along.

I stopped at one point to observe that I was suddenly alone with nothing
but a small puff of dust beside me to indicate where the White Knight
had abruptly disappeared from! Across the river bed, not twenty feet
away, a pair of very long brown snakes was heavily involved in - ah -
coitus! Rather than pausing to watch the amazing display, White Knight
(who is a snake-o-phobe of the first water) nicked off to leave me to my
fate! So I got to look on in awe as Mr and Mrs Snake did It. Wow!

I realised somewhat later that we had walked on the path not eighteen
inches away from the snakes on our way up the river!

As an end-note, later that weekend, a kid from one of the Zone Pony
Clubs was actually bitten by a black snake as he watered his pony along
the creek. The rescue helicopter was sent for and (LOLOLOLOL! It's not
funny! I know I shouldn't laugh!) no one thought to empty the centre
ring of ponies and their riders. Can you imagine the fracas as a
*helicopter* descended in the midst of three hundred ponies? It was
mayhem! No accidents, fortunately, but the snake-bitten kid was very
lucky to get medical treatment in time. He was a pretty sick little bloke!

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Robb Scott wrote:


Many years ago I was walking in the Lederderg Gorge in Victoria and I
sat on a rock and had a smoke while I was resting. My Labrador also
had a rest and sat beside me. After I put out my cigarette and
started to stand up I viewed an enormous brown snake lying on the
rock behind us.

I gently grabbed the Labrador by the collar and guided her away and
from a distance I viewed the snake still there and apparently
unperturbed by our visit. Had we been bitten we were probably 4 hours
away from medical support.

See smoking IS a health hazard.

David