Discussion: Who

Does Julie training at Kooyoora get in the count? Or does training not count?

I was only counting in competition; the two I know of are Emily Viner at the 1997 Blodslitet, and Nicole Quantock sometime in the late 1970's. It occurred to me I'd just ruined the Australian JWOC plan of making sure the opposition was too scared of snakes to concentrate on racing.

Coincidentally, Heidelberg was named as Victoria's brown snake capital in a piece in today's Herald-Sun, although the source was of questionable creditility - a snakecatcher, one Raymond Hoser, who has a reputation as being a serial 'nutter' candidate in state by-elections (if I recall correctly he got about 12 votes in Frankston East in 1999, although Geoff Clark did even worse at the same venue).

If the average death from snake bite in Australia per year is just one, then we should all be safe for the rest of the year, following the unfortunate death of the young lad in Sydney a few weeks back. Seems the poor kid did everything wrong: no compression bandage, kept moving (even ran I think) even though he had a companion to go for help. Makes you wonder just how many people would know what to do if bitten?

You can also surmise from the fact the young man was bitten on the hand that there may have been more than a little stupidity with the snake before the bite. re the risk of bites in orienteering. Seeing we generally spend about 5-10% of our running time actually orienteering, and much of the race season is outside snake season, I would think the greater risk is in training rather than competing. My observation of the brown snake risk is that it is greatest running on bush tracks, a preferred training venue for many. And I am not sure Heidelberg is the brown snake capital either. I'd nominate Kooyoora, though they are often dead grass yellow up there in mid summer.

I've only seen one snake in competition in 29 years and 1400-odd events, but probably half a dozen or so training.

I have yet to see one in competition (unless you count those on Waggaroos shirts!). All my experiences have been either whilst course setting or field working - all King Browns. Mind you, had one under the building at work yesterday, just a little bloke about a foot long. Must be careful next time I go down to the storeroom. Yet to see one on the Dubbo maps incidentally, so the JWOC ploy may have come unstuck anyway (especially as it will be mid-winter).

I had an interesting encounter with a snake in Queensland (during competition) several years ago. I jumped down from a rock and ended up quickly high stepping on the spot with the snake wriggling around my feet. We were both a bit shocked and neither of us knew what to do for a couple of seconds.

My brother, John, got a snake tangled around his foot while competing in the Vic relays many years ago on Wildflower Drive.
He jumped in the air and tried to kick it of, when he landed he fell over, but then got up and sped of, not knowing where the snake was.

"You can also surmise from the fact the young man was bitten on the hand that there may have been more than a little stupidity with the snake before the bite." - if it's the story I'm thinking of, the kid was mildly autistic.

We see snakes every few weeks in summer training in the coastal suburbs - dugites in the dunes and tiger snakes a bit inland. Fletch and I had an incident with one about a month ago on our long run - I was infront on a single track, saw it as I was about to step on it and launched myselt in an adrenaline-fueled leap upwards and over it. Fletch was able to stop but the snake didn't move until he had stamped his feet lots! Never seen one in comp, only seen 5 or 6 in bush training.

I was intrigued by that photograph of Mr Hoser in the Herald-Sun, allegedly showing him with taipans, browns and tiger snakes draped around his body.
If this is the way he handles these snakes then he is on borrowed time!
I've seen a lot of snakes in the wild in Victoria but can honestly say that I have never seen a taipan in the wild in Victoria. Its distribution is northern Australia. I don't attach much credibility to Mr Hosers claims of Ivanhoe and Heidelberg being the brown and tiger snake centres. They may be the areas where he operates and sees them, and he is beating up support for his snake catching business. The inland regions of Australia definitely have higher population densities of brown snakes than Melbourne.

He had probably milked them all of venom before handling. I'd hope so anyway.