12/09/2023
🐍✨ DON’T TOUCH SNAKES - SHAREABLE POST ✨🐍
Australian Snake Identification, Education + Advocacy [ASIEA]
Don’t Touch Snakes.
🇩🇪 Berühren Sie Keine Schlangen.
🇫🇷 Ne touchez pas aux serpents.
🇵🇱 Nie dotykaj węży
🇩🇰 Rør ikke ved slanger
And in other language you may speak… The messaging is clear, please, do not ever, under any circumstances, touch snakes.
This is the number one rule you agree to when you join this group, but we still get a number of posts weekly where this is still occurring.
Don’t Touch Snakes.
Please understand, we do not have this rule in place for snakes, whilst handling wild snakes does cause them distress. We have this rule in place for humans, because we do not want to see any human be bitten, and become injured, unwell, or pass away, due to a snake bite. Your life is too precious to be put at risk of something so, so very avoidable.
Our primary goal as a group is to work towards a peaceful co-existence with snakes, and to support and educate people on what to do if they encounter a snake, with a goal of reducing human / snake and domestic pet / snake interactions, injuries, and deaths.
The Australian Snake Bite Project (2005 - 2015) was a research project completed to describe epidemiology, treatment, and adverse events after a snakebite in Australia. From this study, they captured some interesting data, which included:
• 1548 snakebite patients were recruited from all Australian states and territories.
• 73% of these patients identified as male.
• The median patient age was 38 years old.
• Only 11% were snake handlers.
• Only 3.5% were affected by alcohol at the time of the bite.
• 14% of bites occurring while attempting to catch or kill the snake.
• In this time, there were 23 deaths. Only three were snake handlers.
• 18 of these deaths were males.
• 10 of these patients didn’t even make it to hospital before passing away.
There have been two confirmed snakebite deaths so far this year in Australia. One occurring just yesterday (so please understand why I feel so impassioned today), and one occurring only a few months ago, when a man attempted to relocate an eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis) out of his home.
Again, we must stress. No matter how certain you are of a snakes identity, do not handle it.
Years ago, a man handed what he believed to be a non-venomous Keelback (Tropidonophis mairii) to his young son for some happy snaps. The snake was actually a juvenile Rough Scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus) which are dangerously venomous, a bite from which could easily claim the life of a little human.
It is so easy to make a mistake. A mistake that may completely alter your life, or the life of someone around you.
Sadly, snakebites that occur which could have been completely avoided, only serves for snakes to become further maligned and hated by the general public. If we can hold people accountable for risking their life going into waters with crocodiles present - Why can’t we do the same for people who willingly handle snakes and get bitten?
Our message here is clear.
• Never, ever, ever touch a snake. Ever. Even if you are certain of the ID, even if you feel you are Superman, even if you feel you are doing the right thing. Don’t do it.
• Always admire snakes from afar. Do not attempt to handle, injure, or kill them. Please just admire their beauty and give them space.
• If you absolutely require the snake to be removed, please contact your local snake catcher, who are trained to identify, handle and relocate snakes appropriately, and who always have first aid kits available with them incase of an emergency.
And, because we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk, we are committed to not posting photos of our team (who are trained and qualified to do so) handling snakes - Unless for educational purposes (e.g to highlight the illusion of forced perspective).
We are happy to be a good influence on the public, and feel no need to share photos of us holding snakes to garner attention. We can do that purely by the art of educating.
Whilst we save many of the photos we receive of people holding snakes they should not hold; We are not going to post these. Shame gets you nowhere. Gentle education will get you everywhere.
Instead, please have a photo of a beautifully photo of a wee Common Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) which founds its way indoors recently. They are non-venomous.
✨🌻🐍
