Alright group have a question for those down under,watching the TV last night and saw your nut case Steve what's his name playing with snakes in your out back,ya'll keep mentioning the Taipan and others,he was talking about a FIERCE or FIRE snake,he stated it was the worst and there was no known anti-venom.Is true?

Dave,

Fierce Snake is another name for the Inland Taipan and it has the most toxic venom of any snake.

Don't know about the anti venom but it is quite possible there is no anti venom as the snake is not regarded as a threat due to its locality.

When "taipan" is referred to it is virtually always the Coastal Taipan.

Mike

[ 10-18-2002, 01:12: Message edited by: Mike375 ]

My outfitter, Gerald Conway, for our Safari last year was bitten by a death adder in RSA in Sept of 2001. He said he recognized the snake as soon as it bit. It had bit his left forefinger and the flesh on the top of the finger was a pale pink. He said that in times of crisis such as this he gets very calm and collected. He was 90 minutes out in the bush and knew that at best he could lose his finger and at worst his life. So he took out a hunting knife and proceeded to carve the meat off the top of his finger quick enough to get all the toxins. He then wanted to continue hunting but his client told him he was nuts and drove Gerald to a hospital where they did some bandaging and ultimately some skin grafts. Gerald said the client lost a day of hunting as the result of it so he gave him two extra days and two trophy fees on the house. We saw him 6 months later at SCI in Las Vegas and he was just getting near full movement of the finger.

Gerald's run in reminded me of a joke. It seems two buddies went desert backpack camping and late one evening, one of them was sitting over a log paying a call to nature (taking a crap). A rattlesnake laying on the other side of the log did not take kindly to the bombardment and struck and bit the camper close to his "fundamental orifice." He screamed and his friend came over and dispatched the snake. Not having a car, the friend ran into the nearest small Nevada town and went looking for the local doc. he found him as he was driving out and told him his friend had been bitten by a rattler. He was on his way to attend a pregnancy and he told the young man to make an incision and suck the venom out. The young man grimaced and asked what would happen if he didn't do it and the doc said, "you have to do it or he will die, I can not come out there until it will be too late."

The young man ran back to his friend who was in considerable pain at this point.

"Did you find a doctor?" he asked.

"I did but he has a pregnancy and can't be here for a long time," replied the friend.

"Well, what did he say?" asked the worried victim.

"He said you were going to die" was the response.

I was taking a friend from Florida trout fishing a few years back. We had hiked into some back woods. I told him to keep his eyes open as there were known to be rattlers in the vicinity. He went white and said I could have gone all day without telling him that. Then he said he had a bad experience when he was 16. He was out hunting rabbits with his grandpa and their beagles. One of his dogs came to him with a thorn in the paw. As he bent down to help the injured canine he heard a sound comming from under a large rock just next to him. He looked up and was looking at a large coiled diamondback. Before he could move it struck. It's fangs hung in a lose fold in his shirt and as it tried to pull it's head back to strike again it pulled the rest of it's body right up in his lap. Now he has a gun, a dog, and a very large and angry rattler in his lap. He said he was sure he was already bit and was a gonner. It took not more than maybe twenty seconds but he said it felt like a lifetime to get lose from this writhing hissing nightmare. The initial strike just missed meat. He got loose and shot the snake with the 20 Ga shotgun and put it to bed. He said it has been over 40 years since the event and he still wakes up in a cold sweat wrestling that snake. From his reaction I am sure there is truth to this tale. I hope none of us has to experience anything similar. Good hunting. "D"

lived in fla for over 25 years and hunted mostly the everglades and saw at least one snake everytime i went hunting and most times miss stepping on them by mere inchs.

easter diamond back rattlers, pygmy rattlers they have a big attitude problem and to me they are the most aggresive they only get to be about 2 ft long and there is no antidote you just have to sweat it out and let the poison leave your system my brother got bit by one and it is like have a grown man hit you with a baseball bat about 10 times it is not a nice time and most people wish they where dead after getting bit by one.

Moccasins can be a bit aggressor as well.

COuld not amagine seeing a cobra i would probaly shit my pants.

I think Longbob was right, there is nothing more aggressive then the one eyed trouser snake. - Dan

The only snake to actually ever hit me was a copperhead when I was a kid. I was squirrel hunting in the Arkansas Ozarks near Mountain Home with a buddy and looking up into an oak tree trying to pop a squirrel as he slide around to my side of the tree.

As I stepped to my left around an oak tree for a better shot I thought I had snagged a briar with my pant leg and I started shaking my leg to get loose. I looked down and to my horror there was a medium sized copperhead hung up in my Levi's. I started hollering at my buddy and doing the Curly shuffle trying to get it off my pants. Buddy runs over and says "Hold real still", and raises his gun up. I hopped around the tree screaming at him not to shoot my leg off. Real keystone cops scene.

I finally flicked that snake off and shot it with my .410. My Levi's and high cowboy boots saved me from getting bit. The snake had been resting in the oak leaves at the base of the oak tree and I guess when I stepped around the tree I landed right next to him or on him. I learned almost the hard way to look before stepping in the woods that day.

We did have a ball taking that dead snake back to camp and scaring the older adults who didn't like snakes. Walked right into the campfire lawn chair section and two people headed for the hills as soon as they saw the snake was real and not rubber. Got me a real nice chair to sit by the campfire in to boot.

Like Bang and a few others, I hunt in the south. I wish we had rattlesnakes, it'd be nice to have some warning before stepping on a water moccasin or copperhead.

First you levitate, then you do the snake dance.