Snakes alive

[happy daze john in oz]

Few years ago a guy I know was bitten by a snake and rushed to hospital.
He was asked by the doc what type of snake it was.


'Look mate I did not bother to ask him his nationality, he was just a bloody snake, the kind that bite'.
From some of the venom recovered from his leg they concluded it was most likely a Tiger Snake, found mainly close to water.

[j.sabourn]

John a bit more info.
As said snake venom is made up of huge proteins, like egg white.
It travels in a fluid transport system called the lymphatic system and not the blood stream. Any movement causes this transport system to motion.
Now here is the. Thing - Lymph fluid becomes blood after these lymph vessels converge to form one of two large vessels( lymphatic trunks) which are connected to the veins at the back of the neck.
When bitten the venom has been injected into ( which makes up the bulk of water in your. Tissues)
The only way the venom can get into your blood stream is to be moved from the bite site in the lymphatic vessels. To do this physically is to. Move the limbs that were bitten. Venom can’t move if the victim doesn’t move.
POLYVALENT is the one shot wonder stocked in all hospitals.
JS
PS.,Not pollifilla as some may think am having them on. Cheers

[Rodney Mills]

My new best friend John and his wife from Oz, An expert in snakes visited us in South Carolina. We showed them the local sites and then said lets drive up and visit Cherokee Indian Reservation, there's lots of tacky souvenirs shops for the girls to wonder around and I have a great fishing spot for trout and plenty of gear.

"Let's go!" said John.

Now it's about a mile and a half hike to the stream along a path through a lovely forest, down a not to steep bank and on to a great little beach, plenty of space to set-up folding chairs and park an eskie with beer and lunch.

I told John. "We have a nasty snake here in the South called the Eastern Diamond Back rattle snake..."

"Yes, I know all about it."

"...It's mating season John, and their about a bit more than usual...

"Yes, I know."

"...but you don't have to worry, if one of us get's bit the other one can use this sterile razor-blade to cut a cross on the bite and suck the venom out.

"A crock of b.s." says John. "the correct and proven procedure is to tie a scarf or bandana above the wound and draw it tight, knot it, and clean the area, leave the victim and go for medical help."

"Sounds good to me." I answered and we grabbed a rod and a beer and started fishing.

After a while and a few more beers, John put down his rod climbed up the bank behind a tree and I heard a zipper pulled, thirty seconds later I heard an angry rattle noise and a scream and John came staggering back down to the beach. "Get the bandana, " he screeched. "I've been bitten."

I looked and said, "John, look mate, I can't tie a bandana and knot it around that...it's too small."

John: "Get the razorblade the make your bloody x, and draw the venom out."

Me: looking at him to see if he was serious.

John: "Oh my God Rodney. what's going to happen to me?"

Me: "Your going to die John."

Rodney

[j.sabourn]

That’s the direct opposite to mouth to mouth rescucitation Rodney was there no Frenchman handy to perform soixant Neuf.
JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Spiders for some are more of a concern than snakes.

We had a couple out from UK some years back and took the up bush.

Found a nice spot to have a BBQ with the food and drink we had brought with us.
Of course the lady need the toilet, a 'Long Drop' toilet being the only type in such places.

Of she goes but within seconds of entering the shed we heard a scream. She came running out shouting, ' there is a big spider in there and he almost bit me'.

So Off I go to see what the fuss is all about.
There on the toilet seat, not a Red Back but a bloody big Huntsman. They are a member of the tarantula family but quite harmless, great indoors for keeping flies down.

So I picked it up and brought it down to where we were.
Nothing to worry about here I told her, stupid woman goes and feints on us.

Not sure how she would have gone had it been a snake.

But her in doors got a shock one day. We were coming back over the mountains from Canberra to Cooma and had been on the sauce the night before big time.
Got to stop for a while she said, so I pulled into the side.
She got out and before I knew it was back in.
Sitting on the ground, most likely half a sleep as it was early in the day, was bloody great big Tiger snake.
Suddenly she felt a lot better.
We made it to Cooma in record time.

[j.sabourn]

Twice we have had snakes in the front garden. They. Get disturbed when land is being claimed for building on. The first one was a passing motorist stopped and told us he had hit a snake and it had scarpered into some bushes in our front garden. I went out with the spade and saw the back end of this duggite sticking out of bushes. Wife phoned for the snake man. I stood there for over half an hour like the Statue of Liberty, snake man arrives walks up to it and pulls it clear of the Bush, it was dead. The next day the lady next door came running into our house saying there was a snake in her front yard and it had moved off in our direction, so once again called the snake man, this time he put his boots and protective gear on, said it was probably the mate of the previous dead one looking for him/her/it. He found it put it in his bag. My wife said to him is it male or female ? He answered I don’t know I’m not going to look at it to find out. He took the snake away to release it into the bush somewhere.one is not supposed to kill snakes here. Cheers JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Where we lived in Mt Riverview in the Blue mountains we were told that the area was the worst place for funnel-web spiders, they were everywhere, my wife saw a spider drop out of the conditioner; she got a set of tongs and put it outside the door, after she had sat down she thought, that looked like a funnel-web, went outside and sure enough it was so she squashed it. Always had to wear thick gloves when working outside, and Always second nature to checked the shoes; and shake the clothes in the morning. As John said the Huntsman is harmless we get them inside quite often, size of a saucer.
Cheers Des