# Snakes alive in city



## shellfisch (Feb 18, 2010)

*Published On:* 2-18-2010
*Source:* Queensland Times

IPSWICH Hospital has treated 46 suspected snake bite victims in the past 13 months.

A Woodend mother has called for better education about the danger of snakes to pets and children after her cat Silvio died from a snake bite last Friday.

Maria Short didn’t see the snake that killed her cat.

“We got up on Friday morning to find Silvio on the floor unable to move, fighting for breath,” she said.

“Sadly Silvio passed away in my arms on the way to our vet. We tried to revive him, but it was too late.

“In the event of this tragic loss, it made me stop and think ‘Could I have done something more’.”

Educational Reptile Displays director Jonno Lucas said eastern browns were the most venomous snakes found in Ipswich.

“They’re not something you want to get bitten by – their venom’s pretty nasty,” he said.

“These snakes are not particularly common in urban areas, but are on the outskirts of the city.

“Eastern browns aren’t aggressive but, if they feel threatened, they won’t hesitate to defend themselves.”

Mr Lucas said people should keep their backyards clean to avoid harbouring snakes, and keep aviaries rodent-free.

If a person sees a snake and it’s more than three metres away, the person should walk slowly away from the reptile.

If the snake is closer, the person should stand still and allow the snake to move away.

Snake Advice and Relocation operator Bryan Robinson said snakes bit dogs and cats more often than they attacked people.

“Pets’ inquisitive and often playful nature sees them initiate contact with snakes on a regular basis,” he said.

“With pets, it’s a management issue – wandering animals are always going to be at greater risk.

“The eastern brown snake is a common inhabitant of suburban Ipswich.

“This snake is the second most toxic land snake in the world.”

*Go to Original Article*


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## redbellybite (Feb 18, 2010)

If she had kept her cat inside ..she would still have her beloved Silvio...maybe thats part of educating cat owners  
dogs on the other hand bit harder to deal with ...alot of dog owners encourage them to be snake catchers and are overly joyed when the dog does ...HERO DOG SAVES FAMILY we read about it and hear it alot ....but if the dog dies boooo hooooo bad snake .....better off teaching your dog from a pup to avoid snakes, it can be done ...it just takes effort on the owners part ...
And then sometimes it is simply bad timing on snake and dog /human part ...and thats just that


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## SnakeyTroy (Feb 18, 2010)

The very first thing this article tells us is that there have been 46 suspected snake bites treated at ipswich hospital in the last 13 months. what it fails to tell us is how many of those bites occured when people tried to kill the snake. surely there cannot be this many "accidental" bites in such a short period of time. if people were to just leave the snake catching up to the experts there would be far fewer bites and snakes would not get such a bad wrap.


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## shellfisch (Feb 18, 2010)

SnakeyTroy said:


> The very first thing this article tells us is that there have been 46 suspected snake bites treated at ipswich hospital in the last 13 months. what it fails to tell us is how many of those bites occured when people tried to kill the snake. surely there cannot be this many "accidental" bites in such a short period of time. if people were to just leave the snake catching up to the experts there would be far fewer bites and snakes would not get such a bad wrap.



Yep, exactly.


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