General News
4 December, 2024
Teen's encounter serves as a timely reminder to be snake savvy
The 13-year-old said he had been walking along a darkened road when he felt something moving across his feet.
A Mount Isa family says a close call with a potentially venomous snake at the weekend was a timely reminder for North West residents to prepare for the summer season.
Cathy Bimrose received a call just after 8pm on Saturday night explaining that her 13-year-old son Matthew was receiving treatment for a snake bite.
Matthew said he had been walking with several friends along a darkened road in Healy when he felt something moving across his feet.
Looking down, he saw it was a small snake that became agitated by the boy’s movements and bit into his ankle, just above the edge of his shoe and sock, puncturing the skin.
Matthew and the friends scampered back to the nearby house where they were staying.
Fortunately, Matthew had been at a friend’s house where a group of nurses and medical staff were already gathered for a night off, which enabled the boy to receive immediate treatment while an ambulance was called.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed the boy was transported to Mount Isa Hospital and was in a stable condition.
Cathy said she waited for more than 12 hours at the hospital with Matthew while a series of blood tests were carried out that confirmed no venom had entered the bite wound.
It is unknown what type of snake had crossed paths with Matthew, although it is believed to have been brown coloured.
Mount Isa Pest Control snake catcher James Moloney explained to North West Weekly that 90 per cent of the snakes caught in the city were venomous brown snakes, so there is no doubt Matthew was fortunate to walk away relatively unscathed.
“We were very lucky with how it has turned out – either it was a dry bite or at least there was no venom,” Cathy said.
“But I just kept thinking that I didn’t have any snake bandages left in the house – so I was not prepared if something like that happened at the house. It really is a reminder to anyone that these things happen when you least expect it and so it is important to be prepared.”
Mr Moloney said the recent wet weather had actually reduced the number of snakes being caught in the city from about three per week to only about one per week.
He said he had been called out to collect a large but placid python from a workers' donga last week that had wrapped itself around a curtain rod above the television.
Mr Moloney said locals should remain vigilant, especially when moving near long grass in the city.
“When the ground is dry, the snakes are much easier to see – but in this wet weather, the snakes often emerge where you least expect them to be,” he said.
