Being from New Zealand, I’m not one to be overly worried by things like snakes or other reptiles, having never been instilled with any kind of fear of them. Naturally, when I came across a snake on my daily travels here in Australia, which was both exposed and easily photographed I was delighted.
Of course, at the time I just thought this was a very cute snake and an excellent photography subject. What I didn’t realize at the time and possibly should of, is that this snake is incredibly dangerous. What you’re looking at above is a Tiger Snake, which has an incredibly fearsome reputation and is one of the most venomous snakes in the entire world. This specimen in particular is the Eastern Tiger Snake, which helped in some ways to ensure that I didn’t quite realize what I was looking at. Most Tiger Snakes I had seen – in a zoo that is – were a black color with bright yellow stripes, but apparently that’s one of a variety of different variations in coloration. So here I was happily taking photos from a reasonable distance of a snake, which has venom with a mortality rate between 40-60% untreated.
I have to say, this snake was one of the most compliant photography subjects I’ve had in terms of snakes. Most snakes I’ve encountered, like the more numerous tree snakes and red-bellied black snakes (another venomous snake) tend to run away from me (figuratively) when I encounter them. So one that sat around begging for photos? Well that was an opportunity I wasn’t going to miss out on!
