A Timely Warning
I would like to share my recent experience of an early morning incident at my home in Dayboro.
We live in a most beautiful part of the world, but I must admit I had become complacent with the fact that we do share this place with some of the most venomous creatures in Australia.
We live in a most beautiful part of the world, but I must admit I had become complacent with the fact that we do share this place with some of the most venomous creatures in Australia.
I was doing my usual running around this morning feeding family and pets before going to work. I have a duck pen which has an overhanging tree. I had to bend under the tree cursing myself again that I needed to do something about this tree ……maybe on the weekend.
A split second later I thought I had been shot in the back. I quickly turned around to face a snake coiled around the hanging tree, poised to pounce at me again. Needless to say the ducks didn’t get fed!
I must have disturbed him/her as I bumped the tree. Now I have seen brown snakes, whip snakes and python’s, but I was in such a hurry to bolt that I didn’t hang around to identify it properly.
I was in a lot of pain, and I knew from my nursing background that I needed to stay calm. Very hard. Well, for me anyway. I was verging on hysteria, thinking all the time I would be pumping deadly venom around my system at a million miles an hour.
Luckily I had my ten year old son to remind me to call 000, and the operator was wonderful in calming me down.
A six hour stay in hospital and careful monitoring revealed that I was OK, and it most likely was a Python.
I suppose the main reason I thought of writing this is to give people a reminder to be vigilant. Sometimes I run outside bare-footed to feed dogs, or get something out of the car. I do tend to be aware if I’m in long grass, but I never look up!
As others in the area have probably seen, there are a lot of snakes around at the moment.
If I had seen the snake or not disturbed him/her then I wouldn’t have been bitten.
I feel extremely lucky that it wasn’t a venomous snake that I disturbed.
I must also comment on the wonderful first-responders and the paramedic that attended to me so quickly and efficiently. They were fantastic. One of the first responders came a little later and was going to stay with my son while I went in the ambulance. This thoughtful act meant so much to me, in my stressed out state.
My job this weekend is to tidy up my over-hanging trees and watch before I leap from now on!
A split second later I thought I had been shot in the back. I quickly turned around to face a snake coiled around the hanging tree, poised to pounce at me again. Needless to say the ducks didn’t get fed!
I must have disturbed him/her as I bumped the tree. Now I have seen brown snakes, whip snakes and python’s, but I was in such a hurry to bolt that I didn’t hang around to identify it properly.
I was in a lot of pain, and I knew from my nursing background that I needed to stay calm. Very hard. Well, for me anyway. I was verging on hysteria, thinking all the time I would be pumping deadly venom around my system at a million miles an hour.
Luckily I had my ten year old son to remind me to call 000, and the operator was wonderful in calming me down.
A six hour stay in hospital and careful monitoring revealed that I was OK, and it most likely was a Python.
I suppose the main reason I thought of writing this is to give people a reminder to be vigilant. Sometimes I run outside bare-footed to feed dogs, or get something out of the car. I do tend to be aware if I’m in long grass, but I never look up!
As others in the area have probably seen, there are a lot of snakes around at the moment.
If I had seen the snake or not disturbed him/her then I wouldn’t have been bitten.
I feel extremely lucky that it wasn’t a venomous snake that I disturbed.
I must also comment on the wonderful first-responders and the paramedic that attended to me so quickly and efficiently. They were fantastic. One of the first responders came a little later and was going to stay with my son while I went in the ambulance. This thoughtful act meant so much to me, in my stressed out state.
My job this weekend is to tidy up my over-hanging trees and watch before I leap from now on!
Janet O’Donnell
Dayboro resident.
