July snakebite in Bywong

Yes, because the snakes haven’t had much fun and have saved up their venom for a special occasion, and now you (or your cow or horse) really cop it.

Are July snakebites worst than January ones?

pegasusprincess said :

We live nearby, and lost an otherwise normal healthy horse when it suddenly dropped dead in mysterious circumstances on Sunday afternoon.
One would have thought it was heart-attack and/or stroke, as snakes dont come out in July. Now Im starting to wonder….

Next door bought 2 calves a few years back, and lost one to snake bite. There’s browns everywhere in my area and Bywong/Wamboin, and they don’t need an excuse to bite stuff.

They reckon that the escarpment area above Lake George has the most deadly snakes per hectare of any place on earth.

I was out spraying weeds on Sunday, and my “snake-dar” was twitching mildly. Now I know why. The lady down the hill in a sheltered hollow reckons she has a brown active all winter, he lives under the bio-bog and lies around in the sun. This is in previous winters, not just this one.

I’ve been holding off adjusting the time clock on my bio-bog because I last saw a giant red belly black disappearing into the motor housing some weeks back.

I’ve found a few lizards in the woodpile lately. It is a mild winter, no two ways about it. I’m just hoping we get a sudden freeze (Friday, maybe) and all the active snakes die of frostbite.

It is not uncommon to disturb snakes that are tucked away in their winter hidey holes. Wood piles are a popular winter holiday spot for snakes, and if you were to go ferreting in amongst the wood, there is a pretty good chance you may disturb the brumating snake and get bitten as a result.

I hear some news storys have people saying that snakes are in Hibernation, this is not correct.

dr phil’s new word of the day “BRUMATION”

Reptiles generally begin what is called brumation in winter (more specific times depend on the species). They will often wake up to drink water and return to “sleep”. They can and do eat during this time, but can go weeks or months without food. Reptiles may want to eat more than usual before the brumation time, but will eat less or refuse food as the temperature drops. However, they do need to drink water. The brumation period is anywhere from 1-8 months depending on the air temperature and the size, age, and health of the reptile. During the first year of life, many small reptiles do not fully brumate, but rather slow down and eat less often. Brumation should not be confused with hibernation; when mammals hibernate they are actually asleep, when reptiles brumate they are less active, their metabolism slows down so they just don’t need to eat as often. Reptiles can often go through the whole winter without eating. Brumation is triggered by cold weather/lack of heat, and the decrease in the amount of hours of daylight in the winter.

References
Reptilian Brumation

We live nearby, and lost an otherwise normal healthy horse when it suddenly dropped dead in mysterious circumstances on Sunday afternoon.
One would have thought it was heart-attack and/or stroke, as snakes dont come out in July. Now Im starting to wonder….

Please don’t tell Al Gore…………