Welcome to Galah Weekly, our award-winning newsletter that for this week only is fully focused on all things snake. By Dean Southwell, who was once chased into a ski boat by a tiger snake.
Snake-curious? We are, too. So we’re taking a break from the news cycle this week and diving into the viper’s nest. Myths, milk, tourniquets, antivenom: we’ve grilled the experts and compiled Galah’s definitive guide in this, the lunar Year of the Snake.
About 3000 snakebites are recorded in Australia each year and barely a news week goes by in summer without stories of snakes and survival. Each year, two or three Australians die from snakebite. Yet many myths persist, which is potentially deadly in a nation where snakes are encountered everywhere from farm kitchens to city parks.
And we have questions. Lots of questions. Is antivenom always used? Is every bite potentially fatal? Does drinking milk help? Are baby snakes more dangerous than fully grown ones?
It's time to get to the bottom of it all.
OK, you’ve been bitten by a snake. You know you need to stay still, call 000, and apply a pressure bandage. But we have more questions – a lot more questions.
We quizzed Shannon Nott, a rural generalist GP based in Dubbo, where he’s the chief medical officer and executive general manager of health and clinical services for the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s (RFDS) south-eastern section.
Any firm material will work, such as a T-shirt, jacket, or towel. Think of how you might strap a bad ankle. The bandage has to be firm, but not so tight it restricts blood flow. Splint the affected limb to keep it still after you’ve applied pressure.
Snake venom travels through the lymphatic system, not through the bloodstream. That means muscle movement helps move any venom around the body. A pressure bandage is designed to limit any potential movement and staying as still as possible is really important.
Let’s say you’re on your own far away from help, like in a paddock. You might have to make a judgment call between moving to get help versus staying still, especially if you’re hours or even days away from help. If you are going somewhere on your own, take a phone or UHF radio with you in case you need to contact 000.
We had that case of the outback farmer a few weeks ago, who pretty much did all the right things, even though he was on his own. He applied a pressure bandage around the bite, tied a splint around the bitten leg and then rode his motorbike to a house where he could contact someone for help, which in this case was the RFDS.
Editor's note: he survived.
Not always. Most snakebites are “dry bites”, meaning no venom is injected. Medical professionals wouldn’t normally administer antivenom unless there are clear signs it’s needed. Despite this, not all snakebites present the same way and it can be difficult to know if someone has been envenomated. That’s why you should always treat a bite as life-threatening and call 000, even if you feel OK.
Antivenom is an effective treatment for venomous snakebites, but it’s not an instant cure and comes with risks. It must be administered by experienced health professionals, as some people can have severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis.
Because not all snakebites inject venom, giving antivenom unnecessarily can cause more harm than good. First aid is crucial in slowing venom spread.
No. Actively avoid trying to photograph, catch or kill the snake. For starters, it just raises the risk of new bites. Don’t bother bringing in snakes, dead or alive – doctors aren’t trained in identifying snakes and they can be difficult to identify. We have protocols based on large studies that can tell us the most likely snake to have bitten someone based on their region.
No. Most bites don’t require it and there’s the issue of potential reactions. The best approach is to have a well-stocked first-aid kit, including storing pressure bandages in farm vehicles, knowing proper snakebite first-aid and having a reliable emergency response plan.
There is absolutely no evidence any of that works. And forget about the old-movie technique of cutting the wound, sucking out the poison and tying tourniquets. Or even the theory you should put alcohol on the wound. Stick to dialling 000, applying a pressure bandage and keeping still.
The short answer is every person reacts differently, regardless of size. For kids, applying first aid and keeping them calm and still is a priority. The bigger issue with children is keeping them still. That can be a challenge if you’re treating, say, a toddler who might be distressed about what’s happening to them.
Stay calm and keep your distance. Do not try to catch or kill it, as this increases the risk of being bitten. Instead, close interior doors to contain it in one room and open an external door or window if safe to do so, because the snake might leave on its own. If it does not leave or you are not sure where the snake has gone, contact a licensed snake catcher or local wildlife service to safely remove it. In the meantime, keep pets and family members away and watch the snake from a safe distance so you can guide professionals when they arrive.
Long before my RFDS days, we had one heavily intoxicated young man who was adamant he’d been bitten by a snake and very distressed. We went through our protocols to check him and it was looking a little like it was a dry bite. Eventually, his housemate came in and ’fessed up – he’d pranked him with a rubber snake. We’d already had to go through all our protocols anyway because we couldn’t be certain the information we received was accurate.
Read here for even more information from the Royal Flying Doctor Service about avoiding and treating snakebites.
Pre-orders (and free shipping!) for Issue 12 close midnight 13 March 2025. Order Galah Issue 12 now. Or, why not become a print subscriber?
All print subscribers (signed up before Thursday 13 March) go in the running to win a Mallee Design Large Spun Copper Dish bird bath valued at $995. Mallee Design's bird baths are made in the Illawarra NSW and if you'd like to see just how beautiful they are, and how much the birds love them, rest your eyes on this video.
Associate Professor Damian Michael is a herpetologist – that’s a snake expert – as well as a landscape ecologist and researcher based at Charles Sturt University in Albury, who graciously fielded our many snakey questions.
Two-thirds of Australian snakes are venomous – of 214 snake species described in Australia, 144 (67%) are venomous. This includes 107 species in the Elapide family, which are called front-fanged venomous snakes (browns, blacks, taipans and tigers), 31 sea snakes and sea kraits, five freshwater or mud snakes, and one rear-fanged venomous snake (Colubrid).
Sea snakes and elapids (brown snakes, tiger snakes, taipans and death adders) are the most venomous. Venom toxicity is based on the median lethal dose, which is the dose required to kill 50% of a test subject of mice. The inland taipan, a species that lives in remote inland Australia where very few people live, has the most lethal venom of any snake.
The eastern brown snake and tiger snakes are responsible for most snakebites because we live in their preferred habitat in south-east Australia.
Snakes can’t sweat or pant and so run the risk of overheating during the summer, so they often seek shelter (and mice) in our homes.
Around Melbourne, people might see copperheads and tiger snakes. In rural Victoria and NSW it’s eastern brown snakes and red-bellied black snakes. In WA it’s the dugite, and in Qld pythons and green tree snakes are commonly encountered as well as browns and occasionally coastal taipans.
All snakes prefer to remain hidden and undisturbed, but some species can become familiar with human movements and don’t feel threatened. Some species, such as death adders and tiger snakes, rely on camouflage and are reluctant to move. A recent study showed that some snakes can detect sound vibrations and approach the source, but most species retreat in response to loud noises or vibrations.
Many snakes may choose to bite without delivering venom, especially when they’re feeling threatened and need to defend themselves. Venom takes a lot of energy and resource to produce so they use it sparingly and typically on their prey. Humans are not considered prey, so snakes bite in self-defence rather than because they want to digest you.
Snakes will bite only if provoked, handled roughly, or if they feel threatened. Most snakes will prefer to flee rather than bite, and with some species, such as eastern browns, it can take a fair bit of provoking to elicit a strike.
We don’t use the word aggressive at all, even though we hear it in the media a lot. Instead, snakes can be defensive if they feel threatened. Despite stories of snakes advancing towards people, it is often that they are trying to get into a hole that’s on the opposite side of you. Snakes certainly don’t chase people for the fun of it.
There are lots of behavioural signs: puffing up the body, hissing, flaring the neck, assuming an S position, rocking back and forth, and opening their mouths wide.
Different species have different defensive behaviours and body postures that serve as clear warning signals that they feel threatened. Some curl up into tight ball, some whip around like a fish out of water, some flare out their necks (tigers and blacks) and others, such as browns, will raise the front third of their body of the ground in an S-shape.
No, mating is a very secretive affair and most people never see snakes mating. Males will often engage in ritual combat, but they are very much only interested in wrestling the other snakes and winning the rights to mate with the resident female. Snakes can become a little sensitive when shedding their skin but this is only an issue if you handle them during this time.
This is a myth. Brown snakes are just as likely to eat black snakes. Neither keep the other away. Even though they can be found living together, they tend to prey on different food – rodents for browns and frogs for blacks – and occupy different habitats.
All snakes can swim.
Absolutely, if they feel threatened. Many snakes catch prey in water so they are capable of biting in the water if they feel threatened. When a snake approaches people in the water, it’s hard to accept that they are merely looking for somewhere to rest – as we’ve said, they don’t “chase” people. But they might not associate you as a threat and might approach for other reasons, usually because they’re going about their business looking for prey or moving to find shelter or mates.
Yes, and if they feel threatened they can bite, although I have never heard of anyone that has been bitten underwater. I once watched a red-belly looking for yabbies on the bottom of a 1m-deep creek. It disappeared beneath a rock for 20 minutes and the only sign was a small stream of bubbles. I have also seen grey snakes take to the water and curl up on the bottom as if they were on land.
Move away slowly – snakes react to sudden movement. Even freezing is fine. If you don’t move, you are no longer perceived as a threat.
Many snakes can become familiar with the movements and behaviour of humans and can become habituated. That means if they’re left alone and not disturbed they will be content to carry out their daily routines of basking, foraging and seeking shelter. They have a well-defined home range and often frequent the same basking and over-wintering sites.
Yes, they are. Also, the juveniles of some species, such as browns, have different types of venom compounds compared with adults. That’s because they tend to feed on lizards when young, then shift to rodents as they mature.
No, it’s illegal to kill snakes unless they pose a threat, which tends to be a big grey area.
Editor’s note: Snakes are protected in all Australian states and territories. The Qld government website is just one that offers information on this as well as advice on snake-proofing your home.
Join us in Armidale, NSW, for a party to celebrate the 2025 Galah Regional Photography Prize exhibition as we announce the winners of regional Australia's richest photography prize. No snakes are invited. Friday 2 May, from 5pm. Tickets are available here.
A friend of Galah's recently took her chook to the vet after it showed signs of being bitten by a baby brown. It got us thinking that we should include a few notes about snakebites and pets.
So Sophie Hansen, Galah's marketing manager, called her local vet John Mason from Orange Vet Hospital to answer a couple of questions. For this conversation, we left the chooks out of it and concentrated on dogs.
The main signs to look for are salivation or drooling, wobbliness and vomiting, trouble breathing, weakness, seizures and depression. If you saw your dog playing with a snake, you should assume they have been bitten and act accordingly. Some dogs can collapse immediately after a snakebite then seem to recover, and these initial signs can also subside, but it's important to note that a lethal dose may still have occurred so you should bring your dog in immediately. A prompt reaction to a suspected snakebite means a better chance of survival.
It's very rare to see exactly where a dog has been bitten (though I have had one case where she had been bitten on the nose as you could clearly see marks and a little blood). If you're out on the farm, carry them home. Keeping calm is key. Try and keep your pet as still and calm as possible to slow the progression of the venom around the body. If you know where your pet has been bitten try and keep the bite site lower than the level of their heart.
It's true sometimes snakes will choose to dry bite a dog (or any animal). The only way to check is a coagulation test at your vet clinic. Brown snake venom in particular affects the coagulation of blood very quickly. We can check this and treat with antivenom if needed.
We can use an antivenom now that covers brown, tiger and black snakes.
No. Previous bites do not give your pet any immunity against future bites.
If your thirst for snake stories is as insatiable as ours, here are some extra reading/listening suggestions. Don't go here for medical advice.
We’d love to hear your snake stories – the weird, the wonderful, the joyous, frightening – we want them all. Also, did we miss any questions? What snake questions remain unanswered? Tell us at newsie@galahpress.com and we'll do our best to further flesh out this piece of snakey service journalism.
