It's snake time!

The season is noticeably warming and anecdotally, copperheads and tigers are emerging from their winter quiescence. Both species are mostly diurnal and usually found near a water body. They both eat insects, frogs, lizards, other snakes and sometimes birds – Tiger Snakes in particular will readily climb trees.

Tiger Snake - Drouin

Australia is home to the most number of species of venomous snakes in the world and yet we rank very low on the number of deaths due to snake bite per capita. In Australia, about 0.13 people per million per year die from snake bite. In South America the figure is about 10 deaths per million people per year, In India about 13 people per million die from snake bite each year and in Sri Lanka, the figure is around 50 people per million population per year.

By and large, Australian snakes have an undeserved reputation for being deadly. None of Australia’s snakes are normally aggressive unless they are cornered or being attacked. Our snakes would find a human too large as a food item and usually, if you just stand still or quietly retire from its presence, a snake will just continue on its way or eventually seek cover and simply disappear from sight.

Along with the Brown Snake and the Taipan, the Tiger Snake is one of the top 3 most venomous snakes in Australia. Both the Tiger Snake and the Copperhead are largely diurnal but it is not unusual to encounter either on a warm night.

Copperhead - Longwarry

Copperheads are venomous too and a bite could be fatal without medical assistance. Copperheads appear to be adjusting to urbanization and are generally happy to be living amongst us. Butcherbirds, Kookaburras, Kites and Goshawks are known predators of both Tiger Snakes and Copperheads.

PS:

Everyone has a snake anecdote. Here’s two I found particularly interesting recently:

A high proportion of Tiger Snakes on Carnac Island off the West Australian coast near Perth, were found to be blind in one or both eyes from attacks by nesting gulls.

A ‘micro-chipped’ tiger in the Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne is periodically relocated several kilometres away and invariably reappears back at its original location within a few days