Australian snake photographs

W

Worth Mathewson

Active member
Thought some of you would have an interest in the snake photographs John Byers sent me last year. The deer is a hog deer, a somewhat rare deer only found in a limited area in the State of Victoria, Australia. It is a major trophy for hunters. The habitat the deer likes is swamps. And that is where the large number of snakes are. And where we hunt ducks. The first snake is a tiger snake. It’s bite is considered the 3rd most dangerous, the brown snake 2nd, and the taipan 1st. The other snake is a black snake. The guys don’t fear the black snake as they do the brown and the tiger. They tell me the bite of a black snake isn’t that bad compared to the other two. They have no taipans in Victoria, as they are found far to the north in the tropical regions.

As for the snake in the photograph of the Barnegat and decoys, it is a copperhead. This is more of a dry land snake, and doesn’t get as large as the tiger or brown snake. I am not certain just how bad the bite of a copperhead is. But John has told me he doesn’t think I want to find out firsthand. This copperhead was found near John’s shed where he keeps my Barnegat. He just removed some decoys and put the snake in with them for the photographs. As for the decoys, there are grey teal and hardheads that John made for me. And two black duck decoys I brought down to use. One is by Bill Perry, the other I won at a Mighty Layout Boys get together several years back. Worth Mathewson

DSC02926-1.jpg


DSC02927-1.jpg


DSC03290-1.jpg


DSC03291-1.jpg


DSC03576-1.jpg


DSC03577-1.jpg


DSC03578-1.jpg


DSC_2908.jpg


DSC_2915.jpg

 
Thanks for those pics. Pretty impressive snakes. I am not afraid of snakes and have handled many over the years, but they will always get my respect when out in the wild. Epspecially when I am hunting with my pups!

Thanks for the books and the stories too, I have greatly enjoyed them. It is good to have you as a contributor here on the board.
 
Worth - That Tiger snake looks pretty big. Have you or John had any close call with them when hunting the swamps ?
sarge
 
Wow, and I thought rogue waves while sea-duck hunting and bears in AK were bad! Big poisonous snakes? I don't know mate. Crazy pics. Thanks!
-
 
Dick, Since I always make a point of going down after the weather has turned cold, I have only seen one snake in all my trips. That was a tiger that a friend came close to stepping on while stubble quail hunting. (stubble quail must rate as about as good of bird for a pointing dog on earth!) Kevin jumped back, yelled TIGER, and shot it twice. But he also hopped around holding his leg. I was sure he had been bitten. Thank God he had just twisted his ankle when he jumped.
ALL Australian waterfowlers and upland hunters run into snakes on a regular basis. All have rather remarkable tales of near misses. As I have mentioned, almost all have lost a dog or dogs to snakes. That isn't uncommon. Two more Kevin stories: Five years ago he lost a German shorthair puppy to a tiger snake. It was in a city park in downtown Melbourne. The puppy died in a matter of minutes. Years ago, when snipe were legal birds in the State of New South Wales, Kevin and a friend shot 17 snipe and 11 tiger snakes in a marsh they were hunting. He told me that one snake hit his dog, but must not have been able to get its fangs in.
As for size, both the tiger and brown snake can reach large size. The brown about 8 feet, the tiger about 7. It seems to me that with the fellows I hunt with, they all have a respect for the tiger snake, but fear the brown. Worth Mathewson
 
Snakes----loved the pictures but got the willies just looking at them. Made me think of my encounter two years ago with the 4 foot western diamondback during the early teal season. Be careful!
Al
 
Seeing that makes me love hunting snow, and ice, and 20-30 degree temps!!!! HELL throw in blizzards too!!!!



ehighkHfhagjfdhkjuhao snakes!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top