Eastern
brown snake is the deadliest snake in Australia.
It is not the most
poisonous
of all
Australian snakes, but due to its habitat it easily becomes in contact
with humans, and is
responsible for
most snake deaths in Australia.
It is also known for its speed
and bad temper.
It is found in the eastern
half of
the country, including Cape York peninsula.
It prefers dry habitat
and is
not found in rainforests.
It is attracted to
farmland and farm
buildings because of the presence of introduced mice and rats.
What Does the Eastern Brown
Snake Look
Like?
It is a slender
snake that is
known for its speed.
Its body is streamlined, including the head.
It can be over two metres long, but is more often about 1.5 metres.
It is most often uniform brown
or tan but
can also be grey or
black, and can have banding.
The belly
is most often cream,
but can also be yellowish or
pale orange, and can have orange or pink spots.
Juveniles
often have bands,
dark heads, darker spots on the belly and larger colour variations than
adults.
It is
found roughly in the eastern
half of Australia, except
parts of central South Australia and western New South Wales, as well
as Tasmania.
It is found in all of
Queensland,
including Cape York.
It is also found in Papua New Guinea, where it is thought to have been
introduced.
Eastern
brown
snake prefers dry habitat
and
is not found in rainforests.
It lives in Eucalypt forests, open
savannah woodlands, grasslands, heaths and scrublands.
It also particularly likes grazing and farmland
areas, where there is shelter, water, and abundant food, particularly
introduced rodents.
It shelters
in thick
vegetation, as well as any junk laying around on the ground.
When Is It Around?
It is mostly active during the day time,
but can become nocturnal during the hottest time of the year.
What Does It Eat?
It mostly
feeds on small mammals,
particular favourites
are rats and mice.
But it will also take birds, frogs and other reptiles, including other snakes.
Mating and Breeding
Male combat and mating takes place
during the late
Dry season.
Females lay clutches of about 10 to 30 eggs,
in about November.
The nests are not guarded. Once the juveniles hatch, they are about
20cm long, and independent straight away.
Bite, Venom and Treatment
Although it is not Australia's
most venomous snake,
it is one of the most
venomous ones, the
second or third one varying between different sources.
Even though it is known as a
bad
tempered snake, it first does try to flee when confronted.
If provoking continues or the snake is cornered
and has nowhere to flee, it will attack.
You know it's about to attack when it raises
its neck and body off the ground, to an upright S - shape.
It strikes quickly, and it sometimes starts its defence with
non-poisonous bites.
If poison is injected
(you
should always act assuming it was), the amount may depend on the size
of the snake.
The venom contains neurotoxins
(textilotoxins)
and blood
coagulants. Those
cause paralysis
and too
thin blood (internal
bleeding).
Other symptoms
are dizziness, diarrhea, renal failure, convulsions,collapse
and cardiac arrest.
Snake bite first aid
has to be
applied immediately and the victim has to be taken to the hospital in
emergency, for antivenom.
Without
antivenom, the bite can well be fatal.
Western
Brown Snake
Western
brown snake is only found in western Cape York.
It is also called Gwarder and its
Latin name is Pseudonaja nuchalis.
Its poison is not quite toxic as the eastern brown snake's, but it is
known to inject more
poison to make up for it.
It has killed many people,
mainly in Western Australia.
In Cape York, it is only found in south west.
What Does It Look Like?
It is
commonly about 1.5
metres long,
slender, and has a head that is not larger than its body.
The colour is very
variable, but often brownish, with a cream, often
orange-spotted belly and either a plain or banded/flecked back.
Its head and neck are
often darker than its body, sometimes even to the point
where it can be confused with the harmless black
headed
python
- a dangerous mistake!
Some colour variations can also resemble eastern brown snake,
and juveniles can be confused with Dwyer’s, grey, orange naped
and red naped snakes, as well as suta suta. Western
Brown by
Nathan Johnson via Flickr.com
Where Is It Found and When Is
It Around?
Western
brown snake is found all over Australia except
eastern Queensland, most of New South Wales and Victoria, south eastern
South Australia, south western Western Australia, and all of Tasmania.
On the Cape York
peninsula, it is found in the south
east.
It lives in many
different habitats such as dry open forest and woodland,
scrubland, heathland and grassland.
It is usually diurnal,
but may become nocturnal during the hottest parts of the year.
It can be found sheltering
in hollow logs, rock crevices, soil cracks, and under rubbish, like
many other snakes.
What Does the Western Brown
Snake Eat?
It mainly
eats small
mammals and reptiles.
Rodents and lizards are its
favourites but it also takes frogs, smaller birds, reptile eggs and
other snakes.
Mating and Breeding of the
Western Brown Snake
Mating takes
place during late Dry Season - the hottest time of the year.
Between November and February, the female lays 20-40 eggs.
Newly hatched young are about 20cm long (tail excluded).
Bite, Venom and Treatment
Like the
eastern brown, it enters
buildings in search of rodents and so comes in contact to
humans.
Like other snakes, the western brown first tries to escape but will attack if cornered
or threatened too much.
And it is known to be fast.
Its venom is not as toxic as its cousin eastern brown's, but it is
known to deliver about three times as much.
Its venom contains neurotoxins
and haemotoxins.
Symptoms
include vomiting, nausea, blurred eyesight, ringing ears, paralysis and cardiac
arrest.
The symptoms may appear
quickly, but sometimes
not at all until the victim collapses, so the bite should
be taken seriously even if there are no symptoms.
Apply snake bite first aid with pressure immobilisation bandages, then
seek medical attention to get antivenom.
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.