Boy decapitates snake, finds he was bitten

[hypochondroac]

Wow, there are some twisted comments in this thread.

Everyone keeps saying the parents, the teacher, the journalist etc should make an example of the situation but arn't you all forgetting that these people may not understand the wrong in the situation themselves? They're probably like the majority of the population, know little about snakes and even that there are laws to protect them.

These sort of occurrences arn't explained in a logical manner because the people reporting it or that are involved don't think logically about snakes to begin with. A small number of the australian public gives a crap about wildlife conservation and even less of a crap about snake conservation.

As long as there are people on this earth that are afraid of snakes there will be this kind of thing going on. I agree that there should be some kind of consequence no matter what the age but children these days are virtually untouchable - Yet another flaw in our justice system.

 

[fauce]

Hi everyone. Not sure the answer is jumping on a reptile forum and complaining to each other about this. We all agree killing snakes is bad, we all love snakes, that is why we are here.

Fact is most people don't understand. Whinging about it here aint changing anything. Perhaps instead whenever you see an article like this, write to the paper and ask them to run an article talking about snakes and how if left alone will never attack you, how they are protected etc. instead of jumping on a forum and saying an 11 year old kid should die. Get a grip.

The only way this will ever change is if people like us actually try and get the message to the general public however we can.

Bring back Steve Irwin i say.

 

[MathewB]

Hi everyone. Not sure the answer is jumping on a reptile forum and complaining to each other about this. We all agree killing snakes is bad, we all love snakes, that is why we are here.

Fact is most people don't understand. Whinging about it here aint changing
anything. Perhaps instead whenever you see an article like this, write to the
paper and ask them to run an article talking about snakes and how if left alone
will never attack you, how they are protected etc. instead of jumping on a forum and saying an 11 year old kid should die. Get a grip.
The only way this will ever change is if people like us actually try and get the message to the general public however we can.

This is a great comment that I totally agree with

Bring back Steve Irwin i say.

That however is a bit more difficult

 

[Origamislice]

the problem isn't the kid or the family, its the lack of education they have and thats the thing we need to change.

 

[D3pro]

I was bought up in townsville and know what it's like over there. The kid was silly, but then again, so was I. I played with my share of tais and browns and it was that, that got me into the hobby. There are no shortage of these snakes and folks up there hate them cause their simply scared of these deadly animals which are everywhere. I hope the kid will take the time to learn about the animal that almost killed him, and educate himself on how to approach the situation the next time he comes across a snake.

 

[zack13]

How can anyone wish death on an 11 year old kid? That is actually sickening.

 

[mmafan555]

There are no shortage of these snakes and folks up there hate them cause their simply scared of these deadly animals which are everywhere. I hope the kid will take the time to learn about the animal that almost killed him, and educate himself on how to approach the situation the next time he comes across a snake.

Well they shouldn't be scared of snakes... More people die in Spain from venomous snake bites than in Australia and your chances of dieing from snakebite in OZ is exceptionally low. It is hard to accidentally step on a fast alert elapid like a taipan.or a brown..So most bites would be idiots going after the snake or an accidental bite from a herper...

Fast moving alert elapids almost always cause less amount of bites than ambush species like vipers that wont move out of your way. For most elapids they are smart and alert/fast enough to get out of your way so you accidentally stepping on them would be very difficult. Cobras are the exception because they are extremely common and closely associated with humans and tend to be more likely to hold their ground so they bite alot of people in Africa and Asia.

 

[zack13]

Don't think fear is logically based...

 

[elapid@]

There is not much protection when it comes to snakes.....poaching , killing snakes for there skin is about all..... but you can get away with killing one.......if you killed a platypus would be a different story..........even worse, the trouble you would be in if you where to kill some ones cat......you can chop the head off a snake but you cant chop the head off a cat. i dont condone any of the above....i think all animals if killed should be done humanly or its just pure murder in my opinion.....as far as my concern about the kid is that he deserved it.....its the only way you learn............some people never learn..........i would love to see some one prosecuted for killing a snake, but i dont think it will happen,,,i dont think i have ever heard of it happening....if so let me know i would love to read the article

 

[lisa5]

write to the paper and ask them to run an article talking about snakes and how if left alone will never attack you, how they are protected etc.

Done

 

[souldoubt]

write to the paper and ask them to run an article talking about snakes and how if left alone will never attack you, how they are protected etc.

Done

I doubt that you've ever wrote to a newspaper about an issue like this Lisa. I have, and I can tell you none that I've ever wrote such a letter to have been even slightly interested. Why? because it sells more papers to dramatise these things and play on peoples' fear.
For example, ever seen a newspaper article mention the fact that statistically you're more likely to get struck by lightning than attacked by a shark?

Yeah right.... There is no way that PET animals are equal to humans. Yes they can have fear pleasure pain etc, but think of there life in comparison to your own, yes we should act the better species, but come on, it wasn't that long ago we were infact massacring our own people.

I was referring to wildlife, and the comment was made because believe it or not we do rely on ecosystems for our own survival. I dont think I've even mentioned the word "pet" in this thread and the taipan definitely wasn't the kids pet.

My comment may have been harsh but it was made after a morning of reading newspaper articles and comments from people glorifying this kid, for what?
and it just reccurs every time an incident like this happens.

I also fail to see where self preservation came in to this story, the kid has restrained the snake - then he made a conscious decision to kill it. Restraining the animal removes the threat, making any argument of someone panicing or self preservation invalid.

 

[lisa5]

Souldoubt, you do not know me at all, so why the comment? No they may not take any notice, but it is better than not doing anything at all.

 

[fugawi]

Souldoubt and Lisa......I have rang a reporter that sensationalised a story similar to this, about a dog that was killing RBBS's. I told her that they were protected natives etc and she came and interviewed me and the next week ran a counter story about how it was wrong to let their dog kill natives and then she wrote all the numbers of wires, council etc.

They will run a counter story but don't email or write, RING the reporter directly. Discuss it with them, show the importance of NOT killing them, let them know the laws. The headline "Kid bitten by snake" is not as good as "Kid bitten by native snake while illegally hunting and killing our native wildlife" is better.

 

[hypochondroac]

Comparing animals and humans is ridiculous, it's virtually incomparable. The importance of any kind of death be it animal or human is only measured by the people or other animals surrounding it.

 

[Red-Ink]

The kid's an idiot.. the grandparent and the parents are bigger idiots... sad about the snake, he got bit hopefully THEY all learned their lesson and now we ALL move on...

 

[Daynemh]

its a bit silly isnt it.
Yes, i understand that uneducated people autamatically asume killing snakes is best, and unfortunetly 99% of people have no interest or education of australian natives and endangered species. i didnt read the article and dont know the true story.

i work with animals and nature reserves as my job. had an email sent to me a week ago. on the gold coast, developer clearing a site in coomera. dozer pushing down trees. concerned neighbour notice a koala clinging to a branch of a recently fallen tree, tree lopper is cutting branches with his chainsaw only 10meters from the koala. i still havnt heard any news of the developer or tree loppers getting hit with any sort of justice.

Animals where here before we got here

 

[slide]

How can anyone wish death on an 11 year old kid? That is actually sickening.

as is killing native wildlife or any wildlife for that matter

 

[GeckPhotographer]

The effect of the venom of a snake like that is a pretty efficient teacher not to pick up snakes. Unfortunately the next time the kid will probably just kill snakes from a distance and think Snake: 1 Him: 2. I do not wish the kid dead, I can understand why he is not prosectued. It is not really the kid, nor the parents nor the grandparents who I am against in this case.
Yes the media should not glorify this but the media is a business nothing to do with actually trying to do right.

I really think education should include cumpolsury areas in which kids study nature linked facets of Australia. Being taught about the value of native animals, the dangers, and the right way to act in the Australian bush. It does not have to be all scientific or too specific just make them feel like they are being intelligent and doing the right thing by admiring and not bringing grief to Australian native animals.

 

[Darijo]

This is all because of an Uneducated society, not with working and living, but our interactions with the animals that we all share our environment with.

I'm only 16 years old and have been interested in snakes since i was about 11, my Dad and relatives bought be books on them ranging from those young children's stories with the pretty picture and a morale to learn, through to the information packed encyclopedias and various other books I've accumulated over the past couple of years.

I personally think that it would be a nice idea for the government to include education about our wildlife into school curriculums,( might be a while off) but otherwise teach new generations how to deal with these creatures should they ever cross paths and learn to respect the animal and walk away so as not to aggravate or intrude on the animal in its natural environment, instead of "poking at it with a stick" method.

Like said on the Site, most bites are from feeding (obviously from keeping them as pets, and being in awe of such wonderful creatures) then some uneducated person who assumes that the right thing is to kill it, even if it hasn't done any harm to anything.. well accept its dinner... but back to the point, this all leads to a lack of education in the Wildlife section.

I feel like the Kid was only doing what he knew and saw, this situation might have been different if he knew and was taught how to deal with snakes, regardless of if they are dangerous or not. Just my opinion.

 

[veenarm]

I personally think that it would be a nice idea for the government to include education about our wildlife into school curriculums.

I honestly thought this was part of something to do with school, I don't remember where I learned about snakes come to think about it now, and just thought it was 'common' knowledge that Pythons are not venomous yet, the amount of people i tell i have diamond pythons that ask the question 'are they venomous' is astonishing...

To that previous dude, my last comment wasn't directed at you it was a general concept of the way we live, and how animals live... self preservation comes first.