The earlier onset of warm weather this year means there’s already been plenty of snake sightings around rural and regional Victoria this spring.
Mallee farmer Meryl Harrison, Sea Lake, said she usually saw one or two snakes each year but this year had sighted seven around the house yard.
“I just try to clean up when I’ve seen them, mow the grass and make a lot of loud noises,” she said.
Snake catcher Barry Goldsmith advises people who come across a snake to take a couple of steps backwards from the animal to reduce their silhouette.
“Snakes have poor sight but they can sense the reduction in silhouette and then they will take the opportunity to move away,” he said.
“Snakes don’t chase people.
“Keep an eye on your surroundings, don’t panic, the snake will find an escape route.”
Mr Goldsmith, who operates Mornington-based Snake Catcher Victoria, said people were only bitten by a snake if they were trying to kill it or if they stood on it.
Snakes “much prefer to do their own thing”.
Snakes were extremely important in balancing native populations as well as controlling vermin.
“One brown snake can control a huge number of rats,” Mr Goldsmith said.
If a person had a snake inside their house, they should back out of the room, place a towel under the door and then contact the nearest snake catcher.
Mr Goldsmith said he received 200 to 300 calls a year to remove snakes, which must be released within five kilometres of where they were caught.
It was cruel to decapitate a snake and people should not cause undue suffering to snakes, he said.
Snakes are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975.
It is illegal to capture, kill or harm them.
Director of ECT4Health in Toowoomba, Queensland, Rob Timmings, said it was no longer necessary to identify the type of snake involved in a snake bite.
A new antivenom neutralised the venoms of all five listed snake genus.
Understanding the way snake venom moved through the body was the key to successfully administering first aid, said Mr Timmings, whose company provides training to nurses, students and paramedics specialising in emergency and trauma in rural and remote areas.
It was a myth that snake venom travelled through the victim’s bloodstream.
“People are not bitten into the bloodstream,” Mr Timmings said.
Snakes bit into the muscle and the venom moved around the body through the lymphatic vessels.
But the venom could not travel through the lymphatic system if the patient and affected limb remained immobilised.
“Movement drains the lymphatic system – muscular contractions – so it’s critical to apply a compression bandage over the top of clothing on the limb and lay still,” he said.
“Splint the affected limb to keep it still and straight.
“The venom will not move.”
Mr Timmings said people should always assume the snake was venomous.
Every year there were 3000 reported snake bites across Australia.
