The Goanna's are also coming out to play. Coming into one of the hairpins at Mill Creek a decent sized one ran across the track and a few feet up a tree right on the corner and just stared me down. Chose to get off and take a wide berth around!
Snakes
- Thread starter mongoosemichael
- Start date
Big JD
Wheel size expert
Once came across a monitor with a joey (wallaby) in its mouth trying to climb a tree (at Daisy Hill- Brisbane). The mother was trying to get her baby back and attacking the goanna. It was a horrific scene with nightmarish soundscape I will never forget.
Growing up in Noosa we would often came across massive monitors while trekking around the National Park points for a surf. Nothing like being chased up the track by these prehistoric beasts.
Snakes terrify me- just saying
link1896
Mr Greenfield
Unless you touch a black, nothing to really worry about. It's the browns that can go straight to hell.
Flow-Rider
Burner
I done an inland trip on MTB from Rainbow beach to Double Island point and seen heaps of those goannas. They hiss at you from the bushes before you get near them when they can hear the bike approaching them at speed. I came across two of them having a turf war on a descent around a corner, I though I was going to hit them and put my feet up in the air but they moved at the last minute.
The Duckmeister
Has a juicy midrange
As mentioned elsewhere earlier in the thread, Blacks are officially not considered dangerous to humans. They are typically quite placid in temperament and unlikely to bite, but if they do bite, the venom is of relatively low toxicity, so won't do much more than make you feel rotten for a while.
Browns on the other hand.... quite unpredictable, not averse to having a go, and highly toxic, requiring urgent attention if you're chomped.
And for the record, there are no venomous lizards in Australia. Just to buck the trend....
ride Menai antime for the next 6 months and you'll see lots of very large Goanna's. One morning I had 5 or 6 encounters in a 1 hour ride! I have also heard it mentioned that the bushland surrounding the tip has the highest concentration of snakes in NSW.
link1896
Mr Greenfield
I had a Brown strike my front tyre last summer. Was a nobby nic non snake skin so schwalbe are clearly aware
pineapplehead
Likes Dirt
I know of two people who have both been bitten by blacks. Nausea, hospital visits, but they're ok. Interestingly they've both lost their sense of smell though!
Flow-Rider
Burner
It's the razor sharp teeth that I worry about.
OTH Dave
Likes Bikes
The snakes are certainly out and about in Qld at the moment.
Have seen 4 in the last 2 weeks mostly pythons.
I was at Hiddenvale 2 weeks ago and rode past a 2m brown snake lying in the short grass beside the track. Didn't really see it until I was beside it ( less than 2 feet from its head ) as I rode past. It just lay there looking around at me. I rode a safe distance past and yelled out to my son who was behind me who then almost stopped and put his foot on it. Scared the preverbial out of us.
We then walked back to have a look and see if it was still there. It was just lying around enjoying the sun and looking at us while we retreated for the 2nd time.
Last week at the same place I had a really large lace monitor run out of the grass and across the trail inches in front of me as I was flying down a trail at about 25-30 kph. If i had hit it I would have certainly come off the bike it was so thick and it happened so quickly I had no time to react.
Oh and then there is the bloody magpies as well but that's another story.
Have seen 4 in the last 2 weeks mostly pythons.
I was at Hiddenvale 2 weeks ago and rode past a 2m brown snake lying in the short grass beside the track. Didn't really see it until I was beside it ( less than 2 feet from its head ) as I rode past. It just lay there looking around at me. I rode a safe distance past and yelled out to my son who was behind me who then almost stopped and put his foot on it. Scared the preverbial out of us.
We then walked back to have a look and see if it was still there. It was just lying around enjoying the sun and looking at us while we retreated for the 2nd time.
Last week at the same place I had a really large lace monitor run out of the grass and across the trail inches in front of me as I was flying down a trail at about 25-30 kph. If i had hit it I would have certainly come off the bike it was so thick and it happened so quickly I had no time to react.
Oh and then there is the bloody magpies as well but that's another story.
Flow-Rider
Burner
Yeah that's what eastern browns do. I've seen many over the years like this, only thing I can think what they're dong is sizing up what's coming along the trail for a feed. They sense the vibrations of you coming down the trail long before you can see them.
I read that the vibration thing was a bit of a myth.. I think it is the snakes sight which is ordinary when it comes to details but great at sensing shapes and movements. That's why they generally sense you coming and get out of the way.
Atm they are sunning/napping or slow because the night temps aren't high enough to keep their body temp up. They just sit there hoping we won't kill it.
Durinh summer at least browns move off (while getting all pissy about it) but tigers just hold their patch and move only if they have too.
Was riding at Plenty Gorge earlier this year with my 9 year old. Towards the end of the day as we rode back to the car he spotted a fast flowing section of track with a few little jumps so as we had been riding for a good 4 hours i waited at the top and let him go for it. He rode down three times always taking the side track to return to the top. The fourth time after going down he decided to ride back up the track and up the jumps. At the bottom of one jump he ran over a snake. Snake was not impressed and took several strikes at my son missing his legs several times but hitting the frame and tyre. He rode back up that track at blistering speed probably from the adrenaline surge yelling "snake, snake snake . . ." when he got to me he was shaking and after checking him for any bites i noticed the tyre was flat. Snake had punctured it.
Close call. He's alot more vigilante now especially at the end of the day and sends me down first if it looks snakey.
Close call. He's alot more vigilante now especially at the end of the day and sends me down first if it looks snakey.
Moggio
Likes Bikes and Dirt
That story is my fear. If I see the snake I have no worries, they are very predictable and no problem.
Its that accidental situation that might occur where it gets surprised and freaked. Still admittedly they usually get off worse with a broken back and death if they are ridden over.
Its that accidental situation that might occur where it gets surprised and freaked. Still admittedly they usually get off worse with a broken back and death if they are ridden over.
lol. I've seen snakes a few times at Plenty Gorge. Last time I was out for a hike with my sons on a nice day, youngest (9) was in front walking and chatting just south of 5 ways when I saw a pretty black coloured thing across the trail. Just managed to reach forward and stop Mr 9 before he put a foot right on top of Mr Snake. Scared the piss out of all of us. Snake slithered off into the shrubs but did look back at us a few times, had a shiny black back and a yellow/lime green underbelly.
link1896
Mr Greenfield
PV is prime snake territory, like everywhere really, but often it's not busy so there is a good chance you're the first person to venture down that track for the day. A mate had a brown strike his tyre there two summers ago.
Make sure you take a setopress bandage, charged phone and know how to treat snake bite. I'm averaging 3 close snake encounters every summer. had a juvenile brown go between me and the bike while I was leaning on it at Lysterfield last summer. That's a pucker up moment