Number 5 Louise Mahler In November 2019, Louise Mahler was walking
her dogs in Yarra Valley, in the Australian state of Victoria.
She was looking up in the trees for koalas when she stumbled upon two large tiger snakes.
Mahler fell as she was backing up and knocked herself out.
When commenting on the incident, Mahler said that all she could remember was being covered
in dirt and sticks as she was screaming in confusion.
She called the emergency services and was rushed to the hospital.
The tiger snakes had bitten her four times on the lower back.
Her chances of survival would have been zero but, fortunately, they were dry bites.
This means that the snakes hadn’t injected any venom.
Coming up next, a man feels like his foot is about to explode after being attacked by
a tiger snake, but first let’s learn more about these deadly creatures.
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Tiger snakes are highly venomous reptiles belonging to the Notechis snake genus.
Their average length is four feet but exceptionally large ones can reach up to seven feet.
They have muscular, robust bodies and moderately deep heads that, for most species, are only
slightly distinct from the body.
These creatures vary in coloration according to season, age and the region where they’re
found.
The banded pattern, similar to that of a tiger’s, is among the most common and its where the
snake gets its common name from.
Tiger snakes are carnivorous and feed on fish, birds, lizards, frogs and small mammals as
well as carrion.
They’ll attack humans if they feel threatened and deliver highly-potent neurotoxic venom
with their bite.
If left untreated, a tiger snake’s bite can be fatal.
Before we move on, answer this question.
Which of these statements is NOT true about tiger snakes?
a.
They lay eggs b.
It’s illegal to kill them c.
They’re cannibalistic d.
They hunt in the daytime Let us know what you think in the comments
section below and stay tuned to find out the right answer.
Number 4 Luke Bartlett As he was walking through his property in
New South Wales, farmer Luke Bartlett was bitten twice in the foot by a tiger snake.
The symptoms, however, affected him from head to toe.
He started experiencing numbness in his mouth and tingling in his lips.
It didn’t take long before other symptoms began setting in.
Bartlett went to the nearest emergency room after he started vomiting and felt as if his
foot “was about to explode”.
He spent the next week in the hospital where he received treatment, which included approximately
40 blood tests.
Even after he was discharged, nurses would visit Bartlett at home to monitor the lingering
side effects and treat him with antibiotics.
He claims to have “a really bad metallic taste” in his mouth ever since the attack.
The tiger snake was subsequently killed by Bartlett’s brother and their mother kept
it in a jar as a kind of memento.
Our next listing is about a minuscule island that’s home to hundreds of tiger snakes
but before we get to that let’s go over the regions and habitats where these creatures
can be found.
Tiger snakes are found in the south of Australia and its coastal islands, such as Tasmania,
Kangaroo or Carnac.
Populations are widely dispersed and several subspecies have been described according to
the snake’s distribution.
These include Tasmanian tiger snakes, Chappell Island tiger snakes as well as eastern and
western tiger snakes.
They’re often associated with a watery environment, such as swamps, creeks, lagoons, dams or drains.
It’s been reported that they can remain underwater for up to nine minutes.
Tiger snakes will often shelter under fallen timber or disused animal burrows.
Unlike most Australian snakes, those in the Notechis genus are skilled climbers both on
vegetation and man-made structures.
Some have been found at over 30 feet above ground.
Number 3 Snakes of Carnac Island Carnac Island, located just off Perth on Australia’s
west coast, has a surface of only about 47 acres.
Nevertheless, the island is home to hundreds of tiger snakes.
Even though there’s no primary freshwater source these reptiles have adapted and actually
thrive on the island.
They’ve formed one of the densest island snake colonies on the planet.
There’s a deadly reptile every few steps.
Visitors are advised to remain on the beach and not to approach the vegetation without
proper protective equipment.
When naturalist David Attenborough explored the island in 2006, he noticed that many of
the tiger snakes were blind.
This was most likely caused by birds pecking at their eyes in defense of their young.
Blindness didn’t stop the population from thriving as they simply learned to rely more
on their sense of smell.
This type of behavior has only been observed on Carnac Island.
No one knows for sure how the snakes got there in the first place or how they’ve adapted
so well to Carnac’s harsh environment.
One theory regarding the colony’s origin is that in 1929, a man named Lindsay Vane
dumped his snake collection on the island after exhibitions were banned in Western Australia.
Up next, a snake catcher is bitten and calls his family to say goodbye but first let’s
go over how the tiger snake can kill you.
The tiger snake will subdue its prey by delivering a venomous bite and sometimes constrict them
as well to maximize killing potential.
When it feels threatened the snake will hold the front of its body in a tense curve.
The head will be slightly raised and fixated on the perceived threat.
The tiger snake will begin to hiss loudly as it inflates and deflates its body.
It will then lash out and bite forcefully if the threat persists.
Its venom is a deadly cocktail of potent neurotoxins, haemolysins and myotoxins.
This means that it simultaneously targets the nervous system as well as the blood and
muscles.
The venom also contains coagulants, which cause the formation of blood clots.
Once bitten, your symptoms may include sweating, tingling, numbness and localized pain in the
foot and neck.
These are quickly followed by breathing difficulties and paralysis.
Approximately 40 to 60% of untreated bites end in death.
When it comes to human fatalities in Australia, the tiger snake is second only to the brown
snake.
Number 2 Jamie Lind After he was attacked, snake catcher Jamie
Lind had made peace with what he thought was going to happen next.
The man had been catching snakes without incident for over 8 years.
In 2019, he was responding to a call in the city of Ararat when he encountered what he
described as the biggest tiger snake he’d ever seen.
Lind didn’t have the proper equipment to control the massive reptile.
He tried to remove the snake but it bit him in the armpit as he raised it above his head.
Lind and the homeowner administered first aid and called for help.
The effects of the venom started taking hold of Lind within 5 minutes and he believed he
was about to die.
Lind called his wife and children, told them he loved them and said goodbye.
It took roughly forty minutes for first responders to arrive.
Lind was rushed to an intensive care unit and given multiple doses of antivenom, which
saved his life.
After he recovered, Lind said that he was considering retiring from his snake catching
job.
Coming up next, a gardener dies following a tiger snake bite and new questions are raised
regarding proper antivenom treatment.
Before we get to that, let’s see what can be done to survive a tiger snake attack.
So, which statement isn’t true about tiger snakes?
The right answer was a, they lay eggs.
Roughly 70% of all snake species are ovoviviparous, meaning they reproduce by laying eggs.
However, tiger snakes belong to the 30% of species that are viviparous, meaning they
give birth to live young.
They mate during warmer seasons and in the summer produce 20 to 30 snakelets.
In case you encounter a tiger snake, don’t make any sudden moves and retreat slowly.
Surviving its bite is similar to the approach you’d take with other cases of snake envenomation.
Never attempt to suck out the venom or to dig it out with a knife.
The best form of treatment, until the administration of antivenom is the pressure immobilization
method.
It involves applying bandages and splints along the affected limb.
This inhibits the flow of venom through your body.
Getting to a hospital is the next priority.
Number 1 Shane Tatti In 2014, Shane Tatti was gardening on the
banks of Snowy River in Victoria.
At some point, the 27-year-old lifted some foliage and a large tiger snake bit him multiple
times on his wrist.
By the time he arrived to the hospital, Tatti was already suffering from lockjaw, double
vision and partial paralysis.
He then went into irreversible shock and was pronounced dead.
Even though he’d been treated, the snake’s venom was reportedly still present in Tatti’s
system at the time of his death.
Subsequent reports challenged the notion that a single vial of antivenom is enough for proper
treatment.
Tatti had been treated by this standard practice.
A number of experts argued that the man’s death could have been avoided if he’d been
given a second dose.
Thanks for watching!
Would you rather get bitten by a tiger snake or listen to the same song for the rest of
your life?
Let us know in the comments section below!