Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

For all your general chit chat, caching or not.
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The Swaggies
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Joined: 21 April 06 10:45 pm
Location: Clyde North, Vic

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by The Swaggies » 07 November 09 11:30 pm

Almost stepped on a black snake last Tuesday whilst doing a cache in Ballan, Vic. The grass was very long (about 700mm) and quite thick and I only saw it when I stopped to take a photo of the cache site.

Looked down at the carmera phone and saw the snake right beside my shoe. I momentarily froze until I heard it start to turn around in the grass and I ran back to GZ. Silly thing to do really, because I had to then go past the site to get back to the car.

This was the first very close encounter in 3 years of caching and it has made me very wary of any long grass areas now.

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Richary
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Joined: 04 February 04 10:55 pm
Location: Waitara, Sydney

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by Richary » 08 November 09 8:29 pm

Went for an overnight camping trip to the Colo River yesterday. On the drive in had to dodge about a 1.5metre black snake that was crossing the dirt road - might have been a red belly, didn't stop to look closely.

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stealth_ninja_penguin
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Location: Adelaide

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by stealth_ninja_penguin » 08 November 09 9:57 pm

Mannum quarry on Friday I was having a look for a cache under some big rocks. While I was doing that I was thinking 'gee, I hope I don't see a snake here' and guess what... I did :shock: . The gentle rustle of the grass in the wind was just enough to cover the rustle of the grass by the snake. A nice 5 foot brown. Fortunately I saw it when I was walking to the next pile of big rocks so it was on open ground in front of me and not backed up in a hole with nowhere to go but forwards towards me.

Later that day Nomad was looking for a cache in a tree. She went to look in a hollow but the hollow started to hiss at her :shock: . She decided that she didn't want to look in there after all.

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bshwckr
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Location: Cessnock

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by bshwckr » 09 November 09 9:13 pm

At 130kg, whenever I have stamped through the bush, I am yet to see a snack on the track. I did have an interesting experience with a baby tigersnake once.

Log from now archived cache in Hunter Valley;
December 11, 2006 by bshwckr (398 found)
Had to fight a TIGER SNAKE for this one. Snake was a baby (but still deadly poisonous) and was all over the cache, and the long grass. Thought it had gone then nearly stepped on it just as I laid my hands on the cache. It struck but missed (I was wearing shorts!). I bolted back to the car with cache in hand and sat there writing the log. Then, all I had to do was place the cache back, no problems :-( How slow do you think I placed my feet down in the grass on the way back to the cache spot!!!!

Ever since then, I carry some leather work gloves in my caching bag and if I need to stick my hand in a hole in summer, I slip the gloves on.

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firesafe
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Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by firesafe » 09 November 09 10:43 pm

2 X 1.5m brown snakes on Tuesday last week in Mt Crawford within 50m of each other - one at GZ :-k

matmob
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Joined: 12 December 06 1:04 pm
Location: Mid North South Australia

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by matmob » 05 January 10 10:41 am

Mrs matmob was absolutely paranoid about snakes, however after several sightings whilst caching has become slightly (ever so slightly 8-[ ) desensitised. We always carry bandages in our geocaching backpack. Apparently snake venom is carried around the body in the lymph glands, not the bloodstream - unless you are alone and unable to call for help I would not recommend moving at all until you have medical assistance.

team waldron
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Location: South Australia

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by team waldron » 05 January 10 11:04 am

I have been amazed that I haven't seen one snake this season. My daughter claims to have seen one while caching in Sturt River Gorge, but I didn't see it so I'm not convinced.

The only one I did see was in the middle of a path that I was walking on but it was dead, or sleeping very heavily.

We had a day on Yorke Peninsula where we found over 100 caches and didn't see or hear one, despite all the long grass and warm weather.

I've even done a few walks through what I would call snake heaven and haven't seen one.

Not that I'm complaining.

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nomad_penguin
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Location: SA

Re: Snakes, Snakes, Snakes

Post by nomad_penguin » 05 January 10 11:53 am

Old Jindabyne Road was a happening place on December 29! The nine (mostly) sleepy lizards didn't really bother us, it was the snake slithering away from the general GZ area :shock:. I'm pleased to have spotted it actually. I could have had a very nasty run in 30 seconds earlier.

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