Snakes in Canberra.

MsCheeky said :

Snakes can’t hear, and they can’t see you if you don’t move.

Dangerous advice, that.

Snakes have functioning ears, (they’re just embedded internally with no external opening, but nowhere near as functional as human ears, and relatively poor at hearing even compared to lizards), some have excellent vision (but most of them rely on scent detection instead, hence flicking their tongue around the place) and some (like taipans) can detect you even when you’re not moving, they’ll just use their heat-detecting pit organs instead.

Anyone who advocates spraying a snake with a hose is an idiot. Maybe a high pressure nozzle from more than 10 metres might be OK, but my old man nearly learnt the hard way that you SHOULD NOT SPRAY A SNAKE.

He was watering the garden and saw the tail of a brown in the flower bed, so he moved around and from 3 metres away directed the hose at the snake. He remembers in an instant this shape launched itself up the stream of water and luckily fall short, and he just dropped the hose and jumped back then skedaddled outta there. By the time he went back for another look the snake had disappeared luckily.

But the moral of the story is, the snake doesn’t know what this shape coming towards it is (the jet or spray of water that is), it will in a millisecond either retreat or launch an attack, and a snake can throw itself quite a long way and then pursue at almost running pace. If you’re lucky you will not be seen as part of this new threat, if you’re unlucky you might be targeted.

Almost without exception, snakes will attempt to slither away from an uncomfortable situation. So if you can find away to annoy it without provoking an attack, chances are it will move on. Regular thumping of the ground in the area you think the snake is will normally convince one to move on unless there’s a nearby attraction such as mice or eggs etc. Patience will see your friend move on, and just be wary in the warmer months of their presence, take a little care and make lots of thumping noises when in your yard and you should be safe.

Thumper, good on you for not killing it, although I understand your nervousness with your menagerie. Brown snakes don’t stay in one place, so if you haven’t seen it for a few days, I’d be guessing that its moved on. Unlikely to be laying eggs, as they do that in spring.

The thing to remember with snakes is they want to encounter us even less than we want to encounter them, so generally they’ll go away from you. That said, I have encountered a red belly black who was completely unconcerned with four humans and two dogs having a picnic where he was, and it was pretty nonchalant about moving amongst us for about five minutes even though we were stamping our feet etc.

The snake guy who sets up at the Canberra show every year has this advice should you look down and find a snake at your feet – stand still, (and scream if you must). Snakes can’t hear, and they can’t see you if you don’t move. Good in theory, but I reckon 99 people out of a 100 are going to jump before the rational brain engages!

Remove nice habitat, make a bunch of noise, keep the grass short and give the little fella a squirt with the hose whenever you see him – he’ll soon be gone.

front page C/T says that the ranger came out to this house and removed the snake… Mayne you spoke to the wrong person?

We had a brown snake in our yard the week before Christmas. TAMs said they would come and pick it up but we have to keep an eye on where it goes. Don’t know how you’re supposed to do that and run inside to get the phone. We did say to them we have young kids so that’s why they might have said they’d come around. They also said it is probably just passing through and I haven’t seen it in the meantime so hopefully that’s the case.

Snake removal Method:

1. Give a generous squirt with a CO2 fire extinguisher, it cools them down, so being cold blooded critters they can’t do much.

2. Pick up with apporpriately long handled instument and put in bag.

3. Relocate to a creek somewhere far enough away that it won’t come back.

Todays CT reports heroic ACT rangers removing snakes from someone’s house..Maybe you need to tell them its inside, then say it just moved outside when the Ranger arrives..

Aside from that, I guess Samuel L Jackson’s your man..

Are you sure there is only one Thumper. I read somewhere once that Brown snakes are usually found in pairs. If you kill one the other one will get you, eventually. Good luck.

When we lived on a farm in Wamboin, the Browns used to steal the chicken eggs. So why not try leaving a trail of eggs (that it will surely follow), to s.wh that you are happy for it to go?!?!?!

Skidbladnir said :

Brown snakes are actually very affectionate creatures, but their ‘bite’ is terribly misunderstood by society.
They are simply trying to hug you with their mouths.

This message was brought to you by TAMS

omg LOL! cue extremely unattractive sounding but genuine snort of laughter.

yep.. i realise that… I spent a lot of time as a kid on a farm, in fact, still do…

basketcase said :

Here in upper Latham..

Sorry to be Off Topic, but seriously, UPPER Latham?

Sorry, no, just no..

I have dogs. Snakes want to bite dogs. I kill snake. Simple

set the backyard alight.. fire will make it run.. er.. slither away.

Yes I had the experience once, called the snake catcher, when I told him it went under the house, he just said call me when it’s come out, my neighbour caught the snake trying to eat him birds, of course he killed it, that god, it was a large brown snake, there is a certain lime that you can surround your yard with to keep them out, not sure what it’s called.

WTF! The ACT government won’t remove it? A highly dangerous animal and the ACT government won’t at least assist in it’s removal? Seriously, this government is so ‘effed up! Useless so and so’s….

Personally, I’d pay to get Kevin the snake catcher to dump it on John Stanhope’s front door – “Here mate… your problem now you dumb tool…”

Hi Thumper

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#21
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Thumper (Demagogue) 18:42, 06 Jan 10 Quote

“Come to think of it, I don’t want a kevin in my backyard either. To much spin and soaring rhetoric. I’d rather a snake, all least you know he means business”

And they don’t pontificate…but they’ve both got tempers….(not snake guy Kev though).

Sorry to be the purveyor of bad news but….
If you have ducks you’ll have grain, grain attracts mice (even if you haven’t seen any) and therefore, the brown snake. It may have had a feed and found somewhere cool to sleep and that maybe why you haven’t seen it….

Fingers crossed its moved on….

Thanks kuku… if he pops his head out and i can confirm he’s still there, i’ll give him a call..

Snakes don’t really worry me, but we have ducks, cats, dog, and there’s a kid next door who plays out in his back yard.

Come to think of it, I don’t want a kevin in my backyard either. To much spin and soaring rhetoric. I’d rather a snake, all least you know he means business 😉

we’ve cleaned up every little hiding place possible. Sprayed lots of water around, made lots of noise , and generally have made life unpleasant if you happen to be a snake. No point calling canberra connect on 132281, they’ll just tell you to spray it with water and that it will go away. Which is fine, except when they don’t go away. 😉

As for killing it? Yes, I’ve had the opportunity to do so but would rather not.

Thankfully we haven’t seen him for a few days, but then again, we’ve been at work.

You don’t want one in your back yard .

A snake that is, not a Kevin.

Maybe she has some eggs there that she is protecting and may not wish to leave until they are all turned in to babies.

Thats the answer Thumper – need your Rivers mates to spray it with water…from a 65mm hose. That will get rid of it and a lot of other things in your backyard too.

Skidbladnir said :

Brown snakes are actually very affectionate creatures, but their ‘bite’ is terribly misunderstood by society.
They are simply trying to hug you with their mouths.

This message was brought to you by TAMS

You’re a funny guy! Skid!

Introduce it to cfi’s goanna; http://the-riotact.com/?p=17234

Death match!!!

Here in upper Latham, we have signs spread around the place to tell us what to do with snakes. See http://picasaweb.google.com/xemoth/Signs#5419748895915999634

Just phone 132281

They are pretty prolific at the moment, see them heading down to the creek to get a drink in this hot weather.

Thumper – if the WIRES group conduct snake removal training, I’m guessing they can remove snakes themselves? Perhaps the offer of a decent donation to that organisation might avoid the need for you to engage your shovel?? Let me know what you find out!

Brown snakes living in your yard is a worry Thumper; especially if you have pets or small children that visit or live there.

Queanbeyan Fireys have recently been trained in safe snake removal methods; http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/download.php?id=631 I wonder if they might be able to assist over the border, if asked very nicely? Probably not, but I also wonder if our ACT Fireys might have had the same training? Worth investigating. You could also contact WIRES and see if they can recommend somebody locally? I’m sure there must be others in your situation thumper – and if not, what an opportunity for an enterpising individual!

You need to spice your water in such a way that you don’t piss the snake off (ie. no chilli, lemon juice or petrol)

Cinnamon oil, clove oil and eugenol are effective snake repellents

Following the govt advice and encouraging the snake to move on (possibly into a neighbouring property) is hardly the responsible path. What happens if the snake then bites your neighbour? This is abdication of municipal responsibilities of the worst order.
I’d suggest bureaucratic agitation.

This is the advice from TAMS

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/play/parks_conservation_and_lands/wildlife/local_wildlife2/living_with_snakes

The thrust of it is – leave them alone and they will move on. No one is encouraging people to get rid of snakes themselves.

If the snake decides to take up residence though you would appear to be stuffed.

A long shovel, used quickly, will make the problem go away.

As an added benefit, http://www.fort.usgs.gov/resources/education/bts/resources/recipes/fried_snake.asp

That’s insane – who the hell decided that it was a good idea for people to get rid of snakes themselves rather than getting rangers to do it?

Honestly, that’s about the most stupid thing I’ve heard in a long time: it’s the sort of decision that leads to deaths.

Brown snakes are actually very affectionate creatures, but their ‘bite’ is terribly misunderstood by society.
They are simply trying to hug you with their mouths.

This message was brought to you by TAMS

A shovel will sort it out. I am from regional NSW and this is how people deal with it there. Who the hell is going to travel to a farm to remove a snake? Seems like things are just as difficult in the ACT. At least you tried doing the legal thing.

I hear Steven Conroy is interested in eliminating snakes; you might consider inviting him over to try to kill it

Did you tell them you have a child? (even if you don’t)

Telling a govt run agency that you have a child works wonders for removing snakes. My kid goes to a child care that had a brown snake in the vicinity, and it was removed pronto…not sure which group did that, but I can try to find out if necessary.

Did you ring the zoo and the snake man at gold creek?