Tiger Snake (pictured) was once Australia's leading cause of snake bite mortality, now overtaken by the Eastern Brown Snake (image courtesy of Ian Norton).
Spike in snake and spider bites across NSW
Coffs Harbour Express Advocate
19th Mar 2013 1:30 PM
There has been an increase in snake bites in NSW and brown snakes feature highly in the statistics. AUSTRALIA'S reputation for deadly snakes and spiders has again been proven.
In NSW over the past six months, NSW Ambulance paramedics have responded to 424 incidents where people have been bitten, some which have proven fatal. On the Coffs Coast, a 60-year-old man died last week after he was bitten by a rare yet highly venomous Stephen's banded snake at Kalang. The man was isolated by floodwaters when he was bitten a fortnight ago. Police said this hindered the rescue operation and the man's immediate access to anti-venom. A local reptile handler, meanwhile, was also involved in a car accident at Bonville earlier this year after he was bitten by a Rough Scaled snake.Over spring and summer there have also been multiple spider bite incidents involving Northern Rivers funnel webs and red backs. To highlight the danger posed by snakes and spiders, NSW paramedics will on Wednesday launch a public awareness campaign. The NSW Ambulance Service is compiling a breakdown region-by-region to highlight which species are more prevalent when it comes to bites in particular areas of the state...
Extract taken from today's Coffs Harbour Express Advocate, a similar article can also appeared in the Daily Telegraph.
