Snakes can be found all over Australia, not only in the Outback. However, you will hardly see them. On all my trips I only saw a few snakes and I nearly stepped on one when I was walking along the Eyre Highway, see the picture above (at least I thought it was a snake at that time). But this won't happen every day.
Australia has around 140 species of land snake, and 32 recorded species of sea snakes. Some 100 Australian snakes are venomous, although only 12 are likely to inflict a wound that could kill you.
South Australia
Most of the venomous tend to be in this area. This is because it receives large amounts of sun but at the same time allows for enough cover for protection.
Snakes often get a bad reputation. While they will probably never be cuddly to most people, including me, there's one thing for sure. They are extremely important to the Australian ecosystem. Without them, many animals, especially rodents, can breed out of control.
Weird noises in dark, cramped places – unexpected noises coming from flooring areas may indicate the presence of a snake, as they have a propensity to seek out small, dark, and often damp places in order to lay eggs, or simply just to hide.
Some snakes such as eastern brown snakes are active during the day, others prefer to hunt in the evening, while some species are more active at night during the hotter months.
It's rare for Australian snakes to strike. It's even more uncommon for the fangs to penetrate clothing and the skin.
Which areas or states are free from snakes in Australia? No state is “free” of snakes. But Tasmania does only have three species: Tiger, Lowland Copperhead and White-lipped, the mainland has over 140.
Even using the highest estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 8,000 annual snakebites per year, the odds of you being bitten are 40,965 to one.
Estimated to have enough venom in each bite to kill more than 100 men, the Inland Taipan is considered the most venomous snake in the world. However, this serpent is characteristically reclusive, placid and unlikely to attack. It inhabits remote, semi-arid regions in Queensland and South Australia.
Snakes can bite you underwater, but usually only if they're provoked or if they feel threatened. In the Tropical Journal of Medicine and Hygiene, researchers studied 100 sea-snake bite patients who visited a local hospital. They found that over 80% of patients were fishermen who had been in the water.
Snakes are at their most active when it's cool out. They move around most in the early morning and around dusk. Snakes hunt in tall grass, weeds, and other sources of vegetation. Around your home, they'll seek out shady or dark places where they can rest and cool down.
Snake season in Australia - September to April. When the weather warms up and spring arrives, we begin to see snakes emerge from their brumate period. Brumation, which is a form of dormancy in reptiles, it is similar to hibernation.
Snakes are most active at night and during early morning and late evening hours, the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension says. One of the most common species of snakes isn't venomous at all.
If you see or hear a snake, the best thing to do is to stop, assess the situation, slowly back away, and wait at a safe distance for the snake to leave. If there is a way to detour far around the snake, that's a good option too. Don't try to scare the snake away, approach the snake, or move the snake.
Only fear of heights, enclosed spaces and the dark are more common; fear of snakes is fourth in the list, just ahead of the fear of spiders in fifth. For some people, their fear of snakes is one great big downside to moving to Australia, for others this fear is enough to prevent them from moving to this country at all.
It is important to note that a number of venomous snakes are found in and around Brisbane, including the coastal taipan, tiger snake, death adder, rough-scaled snake and eastern brown snake. Of these snakes only the eastern brown snake is regularly found in Brisbane's suburbs.
But while there are only a couple of deaths each year, it's estimated there are about 3,000 snakebites in Australia annually.
Tips to stay safe around snakes
Snakes respond to movement more than vibrations. Stomping your feet won't scare them away. If you see your animal playing with a snake, assume it has been bitten and take your pet to a vet.
Unlike most venomous snakes, which tend to bite people who are either handling them or who surprise them, the large Australian mulga snake has also been found to attack people who are asleep.
Our hospital receives venomous snake bites with from a surrounding area of 100 km. Most cases occur between May and October. The majority of pure neurotoxic envenomations (NEs) are inflicted during sleep by the kraits. The bite is often painless, and it is not rare to find the patients dead in the morning.
Do snakes come out in the fall? Snake activity picks up as temperatures fall in late summer and early autumn before they go into hibernation, which can be as early as September or as late as December.
In the United States, snake season extends through most of the spring. March or April often constitutes the beginning, but snakes will often continue to be active well into the fall or even winter if conditions are right for hunting.
Snakes like to warm their bodies in the sunshine. Hiking in the evening or early in the morning helps you avoid their favorite part of the day.