Meet 12 dangerous that all call the home.

Queensland has 88 land snakes, and some brown – found all over the state of them are considered capable of killing – is responsible for the most bites. But the humans. – with the longest fangs of deadly One of them – the western taipan – carries any Australian snake and a reputation for the reputation of having the most toxic multiple, efficient strikes – is the most likely of any land snake in the world. But to exact a lethal hit. As summer approaches, never fear, the western or is expect to find more snakes lurking around only found in a pocket away from humans your home, bush and farmland. near the Qld-SA border and is not known But remember, if you leave snakes dozen to have killed anyone. In fact, the eastern alone, they won’t want to hurt you.

Coastal Taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) Mulga Snake (Pseudechis australis) Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) Western Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) Length: Grows to 2.9m Length: 3m. Heavy built, it is ’s heaviest Length: Growing to 75cm, it has a stocky body Length: Grows to 2m Back colour: Light olive to dark russet brown, but sometimes dark Back colour: Varies from brown to olive-green Back colour: Shades of grey to reddish brown, usually marked with Back colour: Pale to very dark brown, often marked with dark flecks grey to black Belly colour: Cream and unmarked lighter bands Belly colour: Mustard yellow and may have orange flecks Belly colour: Cream, usually marked with orange or pink flecks Head: Wide head Belly colour: Greyish to cream Head: Glossy black Head: Lighter face with reddish eyes and angular brow Found: Throughout most of Qld but it has declined in some coastal Head: Arrow-shaped Tail: Tip is thin and ends with a short spine Found: In a pocket between Boulia and Hamilton in far western Qld, in Found: Entire Qld coastal regions in open , dry closed forests, areas including the south. Prefers dry open forests and Found: Eastern Qld from Townsville to the border and central interior, the border region with . They live on the ashy downs of coastal heaths, grassy beach dunes or open farm areas like cane fields Venom: The largest venom output of any snake, it is a ready biter excluding far north. Lives in wet and dry eucalypt forests, Cooper Creek and the Diamantina and Georgina rivers Venom: An aggressive , it is the third most toxic land snake in responsible for human deaths. and coastal heaths Venom: The world’s most venomous land snake with a venom three the world, with potent neurotoxic venom, and has killed many people Venom: An ambushing predator, it conceals itself motionless in leaf times as toxic as the coastal taipan. There have been no human deaths litter and has been responsible for human deaths. Effective bites can to date. All recorded bites have been to snake handlers result in paralysis that may be fatal

Eastern Brown Snake ( textilis) Collett’s black Snake (Pseudechis colletti) Tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) Western Brown Snake (Pseudonaja nuchalis) Length: Grows to 2m Length: Heavily built, it grows to about 1.5m Length: Solidly built, it grows to 2m Length: grows to 1.6m Back colour: May be any shade of brown but also grey or black.Some Back colour: Reddish brown to black with large cream-to-reddish Back colour: Usually olive green to brown with numerous “ragged” Back colour: Highly variable. Can be any shade of brown and may be are even banded blotches forming irregular bands crossbands plain, but often patterned with darker flecks or bands. Belly colour: Typically cream with pink or orange spots Belly colour: Reddish to cream Belly colour: Cream to grey Belly colour: Cream with orange or grey spotting Juveniles: May be plain or banded and have distinctive head markings Found: Central western Qld, in open and woodlands on Head: Large, flat head Head: Brown or black – a black blotch on the crown and a dark neck band cracking grey clays of the Mitchell Grass Downs and Channel Country Found: Southeast Qld in isolated populations — Carnarvon Ranges, Found: Pockets of far north Qld and most of the western interior to Found: All over Qld in all except rainforest. It has adapted well Venom: A dangerously venomous species, bites have been Maryborough, Cooloola, Caloundra-Beerwah, Bunya Mountains, the borders, in dry open forests, grasslands and scrublands to farmed, grazed and semi-urban lands associated with severe myotoxicity, renal failure and incoagulable Border and Main Ranges — in moist areas such as rainforests, open Venom: Winds its body into an “S’’ when attacking, it is dangerously Venom: Can be pugnacious when provoked and rear up in an S-shape. forests and river floodplains venomous causing progressive paralysis and incoagulable blood Dangerously venomous – resulting in progressive paralysis and Venom: One of the most common snake bites in Australia, along with incoagulable blood – it has killed humans brown snakes, has resulted in many human deaths

Spotted Black Snake (Pseudechis guttatus) Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) Rough-scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus) Small-eyed Snake ( nigrescens) Length: 1.5m Length: 2m Length: Grows to 1m Length: Grows to 1m Back colour: Black, dark grey or, occasionally, light brown and Back colour: Shiny, immaculate black back Back colour: Dull brown to olive brown back with irregular bands or Back colour: Glossy dark grey to black sometimes with light bands or blotches Belly colour: Cream, but each scale has a dark hind edge, red on lower flanks blotches across the body Belly colour: Commonly pink with a line of dark grey spots, but can be Belly colour: Grey, blue-grey or brownish Head: Brown snout tip Belly colour: Cream, sometimes with a greenish tinge cream with grey blotches Found: Coastal and sub-coastal areas of southeast Qld, black-soil Found: North eastern Qld from Big Tableland to Mt Elliot; mid-eastern Body: Scales on the back and sides have a pronounced, central ridge Found: Very common in suburban Brisbane in well-mulched, well- plains and downs, eucalypt forests and woodlands, grasslands, Qld in the Proserpine and Eungella regions; and from Gladstone through (keel) running along their length watered gardens and pockets along the coast, from southern Cape pasture and cropped lands to NSW. Usually found in well-watered areas such as river and creek Found: Northern population from Windsor Tableland to the Bluewater York Peninsula. Prefers rainforests, wet and dry eucalypt forests and Venom: A shy snake, bites are infrequent and may cause severe local banks and swamps, rainforests, wet eucalypt forests and heaths Range and a pocket from to NSW border, in rainforests, heaths, farming and grazing lands pain and regional swollen lymph nodes. Bites have not been known to Venom: If threatened may flatten body and hiss loudly but not moist forests, heaths, pastures and regenerated forests Venom: Little is known of the toxicity, although illnesses have cause human fatalities aggressive and will usually attempt to escape. Less venomous than Venom: Aggressive and may strike rapidly when provoked, it is a occurred, and there has been one fatality many other Australian snakes dangerously venomous species with strongly neurotoxic venom, responsible for at least one human death

Snake at your place? Do not What to do if someone is bitten Source: Queensland Museum’s Snakes Here’s what do to by a land or attempt of South-East Queensland pocket guide Snakes are protected and it is illegal to injure, catch or kill them. to catch available online at www.qm.qld.gov. Most snake bites occur when people try to catch or kill them Call 000 or send for medical assistance or kill the au/shop Encourage the patient to stay calm and still snake Additional information: Australian If you encounter a snake: Venom Research Unit Walk away from it slowly, making no sudden movements, Apply a pressure bandage to the affected limb NB: Not to be confused with and keep an eye on it from a distance (several metres) Legs: Wrap over clothes Arm or forearm: Wrap Trunk: Apply firm pressure most venomous snakes, as highly venomous snakes Keep your pets safely away from below the bite site, over clothes from fingers to the bitten area but do not upwards as far as possible, upwards as high as possible, restrict chest movement. are sometimes less dangerous If the snake remains and you want it gone, call a snake leaving toes open to check with elbow in bent position catcher (call the DERM hotline 1300 130 372 for circulation, then wrap a but fingers exposed, then Source: Australian Venom a local listing) splint to the bandaged limb wrap a splint along forearm Research Unit