Dad brings home venomous snake to indicate his youngsters — and results in the ER

Pets

By Ben Cost

Published
Nov. 10, 2023, 4:18 p.m. ET

It was a harmful case of mis-snake-en identification.

An Australian hiker needed to be hospitalized after being bitten by a snake he believed to be non-venomous whereas bringing it home to indicate his youngsters. Local serpent catcher Ray McGibbon detailed the painful ordeal in a publish on his business’s Facebook web page.

“The hiker is feeling extremely lucky,” the reptile wrangler, who runs the serpent-corralling service Southern Highlands Snake Catcher, wrote. “It could have ended up a lot worse than it did.”

According to McGibbon, who retold the story with the sufferer’s permission, the incident occurred on November 1 whereas the unidentified adventurer was mountain climbing in Hill Top, New South Wales, 7News reported.

He reportedly noticed what he thought was a diamond python, a nonvenomous species of constrictor that resides on Australia’s east coast, and determined to deliver it home to indicate the kiddos.

Disaster struck after the critter bit the person on the hand. However, as he assumed the animal was non-venomous, the Aussie initially didn’t suppose something of it, till later when his well being took a flip for the more severe.

According to the Facebook PSA, the poor fellow’s hand swelled up and he began “violently vomiting” for 3 hours straight, prompting him to go to the emergency room.

That’s when medics contacted McGibbon so they might positively ID the offender.

He recognized it as a broad-headed snake, a venomous species that carefully resembles the non-venomous diamond python, which makes use of constriction quite than toxins to kill its prey.

McGibbon defined that the snake’s chew packs a strong neurotoxin, which has the potential to incapacitate and even kill the sufferer.

“They did find traces of venom in the hikers system,” defined the snake catcher.

Despite his sickness, the hiker was despatched home inside six hours and has since made a full restoration.

McGibbon defined that “during that time I collected the snake from his residence got the location to where they found the snake and returned it back to its habitat Saturday morning.”

The journey made the snake hunter understand simply how lucky the affected person was to be alive. “After myself doing the trek & how long it took to walk in & back the hiker was extremely lucky to make it out after being bitten & envenomated & no first aid,” he exclaimed.

Here’s hoping that getting “once bitten” will make the hiker “twice shy” about choosing up random serpents sooner or later.

In reality, the person hopes he can use his ordeal as a cautionary story to warn the general public in regards to the perils of dealing with unusual snakes.

“He was happy for me to share this story for educational purposes & hopefully people will take note & not follow the same mistakes he did,” defined McGibbon in his Facebook public service announcement. “So please if you see a snake or any reptile in the wild, admire it in its own habitat. Take photos or a video & please DO NOT try & capture it & or take it home.”

This is maybe particularly essential in Australia, which is reportedly home to 21 of the 25 most venomous snakes on the planet.

In October, an 11-year-old Melbourne lady elicited on-line gasps galore after she was filmed taking part in with an Eastern brown snake — a species that’s chargeable for probably the most snake-bite fatalities Down Under.