Friday, January 19, 2007

Snakes on a Plain

...and in town.

The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) reported yesterday that snakes are making their way into town.

Australia's long drought is forcing snakes out of hiding and into urban areas this summer, with experts warning snakebites are more likely.

The drought has forced snakes to move to urban areas looking for moisture, prompting a caution to people to be careful around creeks, waterways and long grass.

Three Australians have been bitten by a snake in the last week - one fatally.

That's one busy snake.

In America, most of the snakes are not venomous. In Australia, most of them are, so this article is more alarming there than it would be if it were about US snakes.

If you travel to Australia, watch out for the snakes.

"If you see a snake, don't go near it, and if you do unfortunately happen to be bitten by a snake, make sure you get urgent medical attention as soon as possible," [Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn] Pike said.

"In the intervening time, stay calm, apply a pressure bandage and then, hopefully, we won't have any of the tragic consequences we've seen most recently."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"That's one busy snake."

Has anyone notified Jacob?

As Global Warming is part of God's plan, and drought is in the mix, should our Biblical understanding of serpents be a prophetic warning for Aussies?

End times. I rule "nothing" out in this strange ungodly world.

Anonymous said...

At the risk of sounding like a stereotypical Aussie bushman, there was a snake in my backyard a few weeks ago. We just let them do their thing.

"As Global Warming is part of God's plan, and drought is in the mix, should our Biblical understanding of serpents be a prophetic warning for Aussies?"

Huh? No, snakes have been around for millions of years. It's nothing new that people die when snakes bite them.

SkyePuppy said...

Jacob,

As long as their "thing" isn't biting you...