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Thread: snakes

  1. #16
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    Yikes

    Whole lotta NO! in this here story.

    By JENNIFER EARL CBS NEWS February 2, 2017, 12:16 PM
    Family finds rattlesnake in toilet, then 23 more underneath their house
    Last Updated Feb 2, 2017 4:52 PM EST

    For the past 20 years, Nathan Hawkins has been working with snakes in the small Texas town of Buffalo Gap.

    So when Hawkins, the owner of Big Country Snake Removal, received a frantic call from a family in Abilene, Texas, about a rattlesnake peaking its head out of a toilet — he thought it was “very unusual,” but not something he couldn’t handle.

    “They’re actually very, very amazing creatures that are really misunderstand,” Hawkins told CBS News. “There are irrational fears around them.”


    Nathan Hawkins, owner of Big Country Snake Removal, shares photos of his unusual catch at a family’s house in Abilene, Texas. BIG COUNTRY SNAKE REMOVAL

    But to young Isac Mcfadden, who simply got up to use the bathroom Tuesday morning, the snake was an unwelcome surprise.

    The little boy’s mom told her son to grab a shovel, and when he returned with the tool, she killed it.

    Hawkins was surprised to find a dead snake upon his arrival, but he removed it from the toilet bowl and asked the family if he could do a quick house inspection to give them peace of mind.


    “Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” Nathan Hawkins, owner of Big Country Snake Removal in Texas, says. BIG COUNTRY SNAKE REMOVAL

    “It’s kind of intuition,” Hawkins said. “If you do this long enough, you kind of understand snakes and what they do during certain times of the year.”

    The first place Hawkins looked: an old storm cellar. Sure enough, he found 13 snakes huddled in the corner.

    “With rattlesnakes, western diamondbacks in particular, they’re real communal animals during cooler months,” Hawkins explained. “They tend to live together in dens.”

    But Hawkins’ search didn’t stop there. He then got down on his hands and knees and crawled around underneath the house. When he spotted a corner with old sheet metal, he predicted he would find another den.

    With a flashlight in one hand and a snake tong in the other, he caught another 10 rattlesnakes — 5 babies — in that location, adding up to 24 snakes in total.

    To outsiders, that number may sound high. But to Hawkins, it’s just another day’s work.

    Over the course of a year, since Hawkins opened his snake removal business, he has caught several hundred snakes.

    He fields about 50 to 75 calls a day. Some people call to ask questions, others request help with a snake on their property. Either way, Hawkins encourages residents who encounter a snake to “leave it alone” and phone an expert.

    “I would say 90 percent of snake bites occur when someone’s trying to harm the snake,” Hawkins said.

    Hawkins is proud that his business does not kill any of the creatures they catch. Instead, he relocates the snakes or donates them to local colleges to study.

    “I get to keep snakes alive that would typically end up with a gunshot wound,” Hawkins said.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #17
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    Re-Introducing RattleSnakes to Quabbin Reservoir, Massachusetts

    here is a 15 minute documentary about re-introducing rattlesnakes to the Quabbin Reservoir in MA. Different views are expressed in this short film regarding the issue. Also note @ 1:48, there is a stone wall ruin with a stone snake effigy shown. Link to the doc:

    https://youtu.be/JPxiIxAstpM

    On the island of Mt. Zion. Gotta love it.
    Last edited by MarathonTmatt; 02-04-2017 at 05:46 PM.

  3. #18
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    Snake on the plane

    Why is this even a thing? MuthaFing Samuel L. Jackson movie.

    Snake found on a plane. Yes, really... snake on a plane
    FROM THE TOPIC LIFE 7 days ago


    A snake has been found on a flight to Anchorage, Alaska.
    It was left on a commuter flight after a passenger had left the animal, which was listed as a pet, in the cabin on a previous flight.
    Passengers were first made aware of it when the pilot announced: "Guys, we have some loose snake on the plane, but we don't know where it is."
    The pale yellow five foot snake wasn't venomous and was first spotted by a boy who was climbing his seat.
    snake in a bag


    The snake was first spotted under a bag

    When he saw it, the snake was asleep and partially covered by a duffel bag near the back of the plane.
    According to his mother, Anna McConnaughy, there wasn't much of a panic on board.
    She explained a pilot came back to lead a short discussion with a flight attendant on how to capture it.
    Staff then grabbed the snake by the belly and dropped it into a plastic trash bag.
    It spent the rest of the flight in an overhead storage bin, and the plane reached Anchorage on schedule.


    The crew were first made aware of the snake when an unnamed passenger reported his pet was missing after he got off a flight to Aniak, which is also in Alaska, and suggested the reptile was likely to be on the return trip to Anchorage.

    Ravn Alaska spokesman William Walsh said the airline was thankful for the heads up but added the passenger had violated airline policy by bringing the snake aboard without declaring it.
    He didn't confirm the type of snake or whether the passenger could face charges.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #19
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    California rattlesnake crop

    Time to stock up on anti-venom.

    Look out for rattlers: 'Bumper crop' of snakes expected in Bay Area this year
    By Michelle Robertson, SFGATE Updated 7:59 am, Tuesday, April 4, 2017


    Snake season has arrived in Northern California, which means venomous rattlesnakes will be slithering around the East and South Bay. Pictured above: Northern Pacific rattlesnake. Photo: David Allen/Got Snakes?

    Snake season has arrived in Northern California, which means venomous rattlesnakes will be slithering around the East and South Bay. Pictured above: Northern Pacific rattlesnake.

    The sun is out, and so too are the snakes in the Bay Area.
    Warm, dry weather brings the slithering serpents out of seasonal hibernation, and after months of slumber, these creepy crawlers are looking for a feast.
    Humans need not fear falling prey to a hungry snake, although rodents most certainly do. Mice, rats, squirrels and other snake food are frolicking in abundance this year, thanks to the region's heavy winter storms. Water feeds the grasses, which feeds the rodents, which feed the snakes. It's a perfect storm for the cryptic creatures to thrive.
    David Allen, a modern-day snake charmer and owner of humane snake removal service Got Snakes, says the season is just getting starting. He's expecting snakes in abundance this year as fewer are dying from dehydration and starvation.
    "We're experiencing a boom in rodent productivity, and snakes will reap the rewards of that," he said. Female snakes are especially in luck; their ability to reproduce is directly correlated to a steady food supply. Allen predicts a "bumper crop" of baby snakes – the effects of which will last for the next three to four years.
    The torrent of snakes isn't something to worry about, says Allen, as most of the serpents around the Bay Area are totally harmless. In fact, they're beneficial.
    "Snakes are free pest control," he said. "They're like living, breathing mousetraps."
    While common gopher and king snakes are nothing to fear, their rattlesnake cousins can pack a venomous punch.
    Northern Pacific rattlesnakes are the only poisonous snakes in the region, and they're mostly found in dry areas, like the East and South Bay.
    The easiest way to distinguish between species is through sight and sound. That characteristic rattling noise – similar to the sound a baby's rattle makes– is your first clue that a rattlesnake is lurking nearby. Often, the snakes are heard and not seen.
    Rattlesnakes can also be identified by their triangular-shaped heads (most other species' skulls are oval-shaped). Although friendly gopher snakes complicate things, as they sometimes mimic rattlers by flattening their heads into a triangular shape (see above photos).
    When in doubt, Allen advises, call a professional. Only they have the experience and proper equipment – snake tongs, hooks, steel-toe boots – to catch a snake safely.
    In the case that you find yourself up-close-and-personal with a rattlesnake, give it space (rather than embarking on a hot pursuit with a shovel).
    "That's how most people end getting bitten," Allen said. "Snakes become dangerous when you corner them."
    If you are bitten by a rattlesnake, Allen says to keep your heart rate down and seek immediate medical attention. Most hospitals carry an anti-venom that counteracts the effects of a rattlesnake bite, meaning the likelihood of dying is very low when proper steps are taken.
    Who's truly to blame in the clash of snake and man? Well, humans, who continue to encroach on the serpents' grassy habitats.
    "We attract things like rodents by watering our lawns and planting veggies," said Allen. "By altering our habitats, we're making the snakes come to us."
    Read Michelle Robertson’s latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #20
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    snake noodles

    Snack stall shut down after customer finds a snake in her noodles
    BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON JUN 21, 2017 3:45 PM



    A campus snack stall has been forced to close down in Nanning after one customer happened to discover a little something extra in her bowl of rice noodles -- a snake.
    The female student said that she discovered the secret ingredient in her bowl of take-out snail rice noodles when she returned to her dorm room on Friday and started to eat. Grossed out, she snapped a photo of the noodles before flushing them down the toilet.
    She later uploaded that photo to her WeChat account where it quickly went viral on Chinese social media and eventually caught the attention of local health authorities who paid the snack stall a visit on Saturday.





    The owner of the stall vehemently denied that the snake had come from his kitchen. Nevertheless, officials discovered that the stall's food storage was unhygienic and its sourcing undocumented, ordering the shop to temporalily close down until changes were made, the Nanning Evening News reports.
    But who knows, maybe raw snake is the perfect complement to snail rice noodles?
    [Images via Weibo]
    snakes + Noodles
    Gene Ching
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  6. #21
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    Live snakes from China

    Cobras no less.

    Live cobras found in package at JFK mail facility


    Federal authorities found live cobras in a package from China. (CBP)




    By: FOX5NY.COM STAFF
    POSTED: JUL 11 2017 10:52PM EDT
    UPDATED: JUL 12 2017 09:59AM EDT
    NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - A package labeled "plastic tray" that arrived at Kennedy Airport from China turned out to contain live venomous snakes.

    On June 29, U. S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the JFK international mail facility inspected the package after an X-ray showed what appeared to be snakes in a round container.

    Officers called in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a closer look. They carefully opened the outer box and discovered five juvenile king cobras and three geckos inside a foam casing.

    "Our CBP officers perform numerous daily tasks to protect the United States from potential dangers," CBP's Leon Hayward said in a statement. "This seizure demonstrates our wide-ranging responsibility in protecting our borders and our partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
    Gene Ching
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  7. #22
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    Dumb Buddhist

    Chinese man gets five days’ detention for releasing snake in park
    It is latest case of people freeing wild animals on the mainland in so-called ‘mercy releases’
    PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 12 September, 2017, 12:48pm
    UPDATED : Tuesday, 12 September, 2017, 5:00pm



    He Huifeng
    huifeng.he@scmp.com

    A video of the man releasing the serpent in Xiangtan, Hunan province, on Saturday has been widely shared online.
    Several internet users contacted the police after watching the footage, warning that the cobra was dangerous, the news website Rednet.cn reported.
    Firefighters tried to find the snake on Sunday, but failed, according to the article.
    The park’s operators later had to issue a warning about the cobra to tourists.
    Freeing captive animals is a tradition in Buddhism and is said to create good karma.
    Animal rights and environmental groups, however, have raised concerns about the practice on the mainland. They say it can lead to the death of animals, potentially spread disease and fuel illegal trading in wild creatures.
    A large number of snakes, turtles and other captive animals were freed in “mercy releases” on a beach in Haikou in Hainan province in January to mark the new year. Tourists at the beach called the police for help after they found animals, including pythons, slithering in the sand.
    Several women tried to release about 500 Brazilian turtles into a lake on the campus of Peking University last October, but were stopped by students.
    snakes and Buddhist 'life release'
    Gene Ching
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  8. #23
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    Not a toy

    I had a similar experience once. I was just coming back from China so very jet lagged and there was this snake on the floor. The cat probably brought it in. But I thought it was a new toy snake that my kid had so I reached down to pick it up. My old house had pergo floors and snakes can't really crawl on pergo - too slippery - so it wriggled. I screamed like a girl.

    ‘Realistic toy snake’ gives Chinese family the fright of their lives
    Child unpacks box from online toy shop to find something not to be trifled with
    PUBLISHED : Sunday, 08 October, 2017, 3:42pm
    UPDATED : Sunday, 08 October, 2017, 6:31pm



    Viola Zhou
    viola.zhou@scmp.com
    https://twitter.com/violazhouyi


    The woman first thought the 20cm snake was plastic when her six-year-old son took it out of the packaging in Haining, Zhejiang province, Haining Daily reported late last week.
    Marvelling at its soft patterned skin, the woman showed the snake to her husband, remarking on how realistic toys were becoming, the report said
    But the husband looked at the snake’s head and soon worked out that it was real – albeit dead.
    Forestry authorities said the animal was a non-venomous Mandarin rat snake and might have slithered into the parcel for warmth.
    “I’m glad it was dead,” the woman was quoted as saying. “I dare not imagine what would happen if it weren’t.”
    The online toy shop said it had no idea how the snake got into the parcel, but agreed to offer the family a refund, the report said.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #24
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    The inland taipan snake

    Call me callous, but I don't have a lot of sympathy for bitten snake handlers. Same goes for gored matadors.

    1 day ago
    Star teen snake wrangler fighting for life after bite from 'world's deadliest snake'
    Fox News


    The inland taipan is usually quite shy and is known to only strike when it is provoked or mishandled. (Credit: Nathan Chetcuti, Facebook)

    A famous 19-year-old snake wrangler from Australia is fighting for his life after being bitten by his pet snake, one that is regarded as the world's most venomous.

    Nathan Chetcuti, from Brisbane, Australia, was attempting to put his pet inland taipan back into its enclosure on Sunday when the snake lashed out and bit him. Nathan's father immediately called emergency services after seeing the horiffic attack.

    Toxicologist Dr. Geoff Isbister told the Australian Broadcasting Company that the snake's poison can cause major issues for humans. “In terms of its effects, it causes blood not to clot, but its most important effect is it causes neurotoxicity," Isbister said. "So if it’s not treated early, it can cause paralysis.”

    As of Nov. 7, Chetcuti was still in serious condition in the intensive care unit of Redcliffe Hospital in Queensland, where his family has remained by his side.

    On Chetcuti's YouTube page, Australian Pythons And Other Reptiles, which has more than 4,000 subscribers, he has several videos of non-venmous snakes and other reptiles, according to a report in news.com.au, which first reported the story.

    The inland taipan snake, however, is known as a fierce snake from central east Australia and is regarded as the most venomous snake on the planet. A bite from the inland taipan could kill a person in 45 minutes if left untreated, according to a 2013 report from the University of Melbourne.

    Unlike the saw-scaled viper or the king cobra snake, the inland taipan is usually quite shy. It is known to only strike when it is provoked or mishandled, so the strike on Chetcuti comes as a surprise to some.

    In 2013, a 17-year-old male was bitten by an inland taipan in New South Wales, but he eventually recovered from the attack.

    Following the bite, Hunter Valley snake catcher Judy Martin kept the snake and said they're usually very docile. “They are a very placid snake, they rarely bite,” she said, according to news.com.au.
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  10. #25
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    Snakes on a train!

    There's a vid behind the link. The dude is pretty nonchalant about it.

    MAN HAILED AS HERO FOR KILLING SNAKE ON A TRAIN WITH BARE HANDS
    BY SOFIA LOTTO PERSIO ON 11/23/17 AT 5:52 AM

    A commuter on an Indonesian train was hailed as a hero on social media for his cold-blooded reaction to a finding a snake on the carriage.

    A video of the man's encounter with the reptile quickly spread online Tuesday, getting more than 170,000 views and nearly 4,000 enthusiasic comments.

    The video showed the man, wearing glasses and a backpack, on the train from Bogor to the capital, Jakarta, lifting himself to grab the snake with his bare hands from an overhead compartment.

    Carefully holding it by its tail, the man, whose identity is unknown, then swung the snake to the floor with one swift blow, appearing to kill the reptile before kicking it outside the door onto the platform, where a security guard and a military officer were in attendance as the train made an emergency stop.

    The reptile appeared to be around three feet in length, but it remains unclear what kind of snake it was and whether it was poisonous.

    The Commuter Line train operator Kerata Commuter Indonesia (KCI) believes the snake was intentionally brought on the train, sneaking out of a passenger’s bag, but it is unlikely that the culprit will ever be found. "It will certainly be difficult because no one wants to confess," company spokesperson Eva Chairunnisa said in a statement to local media.

    KCI also apologized to the passengers. "We regret the incident and apologise to train travelers who were disturbed by it," Chairunnisa told the AFP news agency.


    Workers hold a snake before killing it at a slaughterhouse at Kapetakan village near Cirebon, Indonesia's West Java province, February 8, 2013. A man appeared to kill a snake found on a commuter train in Jakarta on November 21.
    BEAWIHARTA/REUTERS

    The train operator is a subsidiary of the state-owned railway company Kerata Api Indonesia. The Transport Ministry opened an investigation into the incident.

    "The discovery of a snake inside a railcar on the Bogor-Angke line caused passengers to panic, so the train had to stop at Manggarai Station [in Central Jakarta]... to prevent a potential accident resulting from the panic," the directorate general said in a statement to local media on Wednesday.

    Creating disturbances or danger to passengers on trains is an offense that can be punished with up to three weeks imprisonment.
    Gene Ching
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  11. #26
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    ttt for 2018!

    After a decade of dormancy, we're overdue to ttt this OT: AI and Artificial Life forms thread. I'll copy it to snakes too, just because I can't quite wrap my coils around it.

    Snake joke slithers into New York Times story
    3 hours ago


    GETTY IMAGES

    The New York Times has corrected an article that mistakenly referred to the "Great Recession" as "the time of shedding and cold rocks".

    One of its editors had installed software that adds references to snakes to websites.

    The substitution was missed and published online, but did not appear in the print edition of the newspaper.

    The newspaper blamed an "editing error involving a satirical text-swapping web browser extension".

    The Millennials to Snake People add-on for Google's Chrome browser was created by coder Eric Bailey, who had noticed a surge in news stories blaming so-called millennials for the world's problems.

    He decided changing the term "millennials" to "snake people" in news articles and on websites, and making other snake references, would be funny.

    View image on Twitter

    Justin Bank

    @bankonjustin
    I'm horrified to be the guilty editor here. But thankfully @YLindaQiu's excellent work stands so far above it.

    Also, I have now deleted the excellent Millenial-Snake Person Chrome extension. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/u...radefacts.html
    9:14 AM - Mar 7, 2018
    481
    202 people are talking about this
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    End of Twitter post by @bankonjustin
    The New York Times correction offered readers a "pro tip" to avoid mistakes, advising: "Disable your Millennials to Snake People extension when copying and pasting."

    The mistake appeared in an article fact-checking President Donald Trump's claims on trade deficits.

    In 2016, Wired magazine made a similar mistake and published an article in which Donald Trump's name was replaced with "someone with tiny hands".

    The error made it past the magazine's production team, who had assumed it was an intentional joke.
    I want a satirical text-swapping web browser extension for Kung Fu Tai Chi...only I don't know what it would say.
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  12. #27
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    RIP Abu Zarin Hussin

    Snake-catching fireman dies after cobra bite
    Bernama | March 16, 2018

    Abu Zarin Hussin headed the King Cobra Squad of the Fire and Rescue Department and had helped train firefighters to catch the venomous animals.


    Abu Zarin Hussin had been bitten by snakes several times before and even spent two days in a coma after being bitten by a cobra in 2015.

    TEMERLOH: Abu Zarin Hussin, the firefighter renowned for his snake-catching skills, died early today after being bitten by a cobra three days ago.

    The 33-year-old died at 12.54am in the intensive care unit of the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital here, Pahang Fire and Rescue Department director Abdul Wahab Mat Yassin said.

    Abu Zarin, who was in critical condition after being bitten by the snake he was attempting to catch in Bentong, was admitted to the Bentong Hospital on March 13 before being transferred to the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital.

    “Abu Zarin’s remains were taken to Kampung Permatang Gading, Pasir Puteh, Kelantan at 5am and are expected to be buried before the Friday prayers today,” said Abdul Wahab when contacted.

    Abu Zarin, who hailed from Pasir Puteh, had served the Fire and Rescue Department for over 10 years. He was attached to the Muadzam Shah Fire and Rescue Station in Pekan before being transferred to Temerloh.

    He headed the King Cobra Squad of the Fire and Rescue Department, established at the end of 2015, and helped train firefighters to catch the venomous animals. He also delivered public talks.

    Abu Zarin had been bitten by snakes several times before and even spent two days in a coma after being bitten by a cobra in 2015.

    He tried his luck in the “Asia’s Got Talent” competition last year but failed to win over the judges with his dangerous snake feat.
    In the West, he's known as the 'snake whisperer'. Search "Famed ‘snake whisperer’ dies after cobra bite" to see a less heroic, more sensational, portrayal of his life.
    Gene Ching
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  13. #28
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    whole lotta nope

    What is it about snakes and toilets? I remember my fencing team mascot (a 13 ft. boa) liked hotel bathrooms because she'd wrap around the hot water pipe under the sink, but toilets aren't hot water driven.

    SIX-FOOT PYTHON COILS AROUND TEEN'S LEGS AS HE SITS ON TOILET
    BY BRENDAN COLE ON 3/20/18 AT 5:07 AM

    A teenage boy groggily taking a late night toilet stop got the shock of his life when he came across an unexpected intruder.

    The unnamed 17-year-old in Mountain Creek in Queensland, Australia, found that he was sharing the toilet with a large carpet python.

    Snake catcher Luke Huntley was called to the house in the Sunshine Coast and said that the teenager did not realize until the serpent wrapped itself around his leg and tried to bite him.

    A Centralian carpet python lies coiled at Sydney Wildlife World on September 11, 2009.
    GREG WOOD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES.

    He quickly managed to fight off the snake, which was not poisonous, and beat a hasty retreat.

    Huntley told Australia’s ABC News: “He flicks it off with its other foot and it sort of recoils. So he pulls his pants up and he runs out of there and he closes the door behind him. His mum said she tried to move it on herself but it kept striking at her,” he added.

    Huntley put the snake’s aggression down being in hunt mode, the fact that it was hungry and that it had been cornered.

    “It had to fight because it couldn’t run away and that’s what the snake did. It’s an unusual behavior for a snake to wrap itself around a person and try to strike.”

    He said it was lucky that the boy was not injured and although it was not the first time he had to get a snake out of the toilet, it was the biggest and most aggressive one he had had to capture, describing it as being in a “grumpy mood”.

    “I think he’s going to make sure all the doors and windows are always closed now, that’s how a snake would’ve got in,” he added.

    “This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Of all the places to have that happen, when you’re at your most vulnerable,” he added.

    In February, the Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers warned Queenslanders to be cautious if they came across snakes in their home because often they might mistake deadly ones for harmless ones.

    The National Coronial Information Service says that around 300 people are bitten by snakes in Australia each year, although only 35 people have died between 2000 and 2016.
    Gene Ching
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  14. #29
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    “Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?”

    I was told about the ability of decapitated snakes to strike out of reflex in Wilderness Survival training. Guess that's true...

    Severed Rattlesnake Head Bites Texas Man
    A Texas man discovered in the most unpleasant way possible that a decapitated rattlesnake can still bite.
    By Kim LaCapria 7 June 2018


    Tom Reichner / Shutterstock.com

    A man from Corpus Christi, Texas is recovering after he was bitten by a rattlesnake in May 2018 — after he decapitated the creature with a shovel.

    South Texas’ KIII-TV reported the victim’s wife said that the snake discharged “all its venom.” She said her husband’s condition was touch and go at first:

    Jennifer Sutcliffe and her husband were doing weekend yard work when she spotted a four-foot rattlesnake. She said her husband quickly took his shovel and severed the snake’s head, but moments later when he bent down to dispose of the snake, the snake’s head bit him … Sutcliffe said the first 24 hours were the worst. Doctors told her husband might not make it, even after giving him vast amounts of antivenom.

    “A normal person who is going to get bit is going to get two to four doses of antivenom,” Sutcliffe said. “He had to have 26 doses.”

    Sutcliffe’s husband is now in stable condition, but his kidney function is still weak. Trauma surgeon Michael Halpert said although dying from a snake bite is rare, it happens.

    “There are about 6,000 to 8,000 snake bites per year in the country, and 10-12 people die,” Halpert said.
    The incident in Corpus Christi was not the first time in recent years that a decapitated snake bite made news. In 2013, a video of a decapitated copperhead in Alabama went viral. After a 2014 incident in China, biologists affirmed that removing the head of a venomous snake doesn’t instantly eliminate the threat it poses.

    According to experts, venomous snakes bite differently than many other species:

    Snakes in general are well known for retaining reflexes after death,” said Steven Beaupré, a biology professor at the University of Arkansas. Many ectothermic, or cold-blooded, vertebrae— including species of reptiles and amphibians— share this quality, he said.

    In fact, there have been previous [to 2014] reports, including in the U.S., of people being bitten by the severed heads of snakes.

    For venomous snakes, such as cobras and rattlesnakes, biting is one of the reflexes that can be activated in the brain even hours after the animal dies, Beaupré told Live Science.

    The bite reflex is stronger in venomous snakes than it is in some other carnivores because these snakes use their bite differently than other meat-eaters, Beaupré said. Unlike a tiger, for instance, which kills prey by sinking its teeth into an animal’s flesh and holding on, snakes aim to deliver just one, extremely quick bite and then move away from their prey before getting trampled.
    Sutcliffe’s husband remained in stable condition after receiving doses of antivenin, but continued to have impaired kidney function as a result of the incident. Biologists warn that most bites from venomous snakes occur when people try to neutralize the snake by killing it, rather than simply leaving it alone.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,907

    death by snake

    This is way up there for me as one of the worst ways to die.

    23-foot python swallows Indonesian woman near her garden
    By ASSOCIATED PRESS
    JUN 16, 2018 | 5:05 AM
    | JAKARTA, INDONESIA


    An Asiatic reticulated python. (De Agostini / Getty Images)

    A 23-foot python has swallowed a woman in central Indonesia, a village official said Saturday.

    The victim, 54-year-old Wa Tiba, went missing while checking her vegetable garden near her village on Muna island in Southeast Sulawesi province on Thursday evening, according to the village chief, Faris.

    On Friday, her family went to look for her at the garden but found only her belongings, including sandals and a flashlight, said Faris, who uses a single name.

    The family and villagers launched a search for the woman, and found the snake with a bloated belly about 50 yards from where her belongings were found.

    The villagers killed the snake and carried it to the village.

    “When they cut open the snake's belly they found Tiba's body still intact with all her clothes,” Faris said. “She was swallowed first from her head.”

    Videos posted on some websites showed villagers slicing open the python's carcass to reveal the woman's body.

    Faris said the victim's garden, about a half-mile from her house, is in a rocky area with caves and cliffs believed to contain many snakes.

    Reticulated pythons, which are widespread in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, grab onto their prey with dozens of sharp curved teeth, then squeeze it to death before swallowing it whole.

    Reports of humans being killed by pythons are extremely rare. In the wild they are known to eat monkeys, pigs and other mammals.

    It was the second python attack on a human in Indonesia since March last year, when a 25-year-old man was swallowed whole by a python in West Sulawesi province.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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