{"id":113972,"date":"2025-05-19T09:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T09:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/113972\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T09:23:12","slug":"qld-pair-teach-how-to-safely-handle-venomous-snakes-tackling-persistent-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/113972\/","title":{"rendered":"Qld pair teach how to safely handle venomous snakes, tackling ‘persistent myths’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Would you consider taking on venomous snake handling training if it meant you’d be safer around snakes?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Queensland snake experts Chris Hay and Christina Zdenek want more Australians to educate themselves with a few key facts about snakes and snake behaviour.<\/p>\n

The pair offer venomous snake handling training and snake ecology courses.<\/p>\n

“It’s not a ticket to go and chase taipans down the road and catch eastern brown snakes, but it’s a start of a journey,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dr Zdenek said.<\/p>\n

“Back in the day when I was learning, you had to basically learn through experience, whether that went good or bad, so it’s great to be able to offer this sort of thing to people,” Mr Hay added.<\/p>\n

Busting the biggest myths about snakes<\/p>\n

Dr Zdenek is a scientist who has spent years studying snakes, as well as handling them in travelling snake shows, scientific field work and antivenom testing.<\/p>\n

The couple are passionate about promoting a broader understanding and appreciation of snakes, and busting what they call “persistent myths” about the reptiles.<\/p>\n

“That they’re aggressive, that they want to chase us and strike at us and bite us and you know, the opposite couldn’t be more true,” Dr Zdenek said.<\/p>\n

\"Smiling<\/p>\n

Chris Hay supervises a client as they handle an eastern brown snake, one of Australia\u2019s deadliest species. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Snakes, by default, are cowards, and they will do everything they can to avoid a confrontation with humans because we’re deadly to them.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mr Hay said the pair wanted to counter the misinformation.<\/p>\n

“We just want the truth to get out there about snakes, ” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’re not evil creatures. They’re actually quite easygoing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Woma pythons are non-venomous and often used to ease participants into snake handling. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

Safety training with taipans<\/p>\n

The self-confessed “snake-obsessed” pair now share their home with a collection of 40 reptiles, about 25 of which are venomous snakes.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got coastal taipans, inland taipan, eastern brown snakes, Collett’s black snake, red-bellied black snake, death adders, tiger snakes, pale-headed snakes, woma pythons and strap-snouted brown snakes,” Dr Zdenek said.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

The couple also teach how to handle coastal taipan, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

The couple’s snakes feature in their venomous snake handling training, allowing participants a chance to experience real-life encounters with some of the world’s most venomous reptiles.<\/p>\n

“We get people from professional backgrounds,” Mr Hay said.<\/p>\n

“They’re people that are going to use snake-handling skills in their profession, in their day-to-day job.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Joel Young (front) receives close guidance while handling a tiger snake. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

Step-by-step, the class is shown the correct handling techniques and why it’s important to do it a certain way.<\/p>\n

Participant Joel Young, a groundskeeper at a private school in Yatala, recently encountered both an eastern brown and a green tree snake on campus.<\/p>\n

“Just yesterday, there was an eastern brown,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t touch it because I hadn’t had the training yet.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Understandably, participants start out handling less dangerous snakes and work their way up to the venomous ones.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Charley Rayner practises safe handling techniques as part of the venomous snake course. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

Wildlife spotter Charley Rayner said the course gave her confidence to handle stressful situations on job sites.<\/p>\n

“It’s great to actually get some hands-on experience,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

she said.<\/p>\n

As well as mitigating the risks that come with working closely with snakes, the course also offers people valuable insight into what to expect if things go wrong.<\/p>\n

What happens when something goes wrong<\/p>\n

Mr Hay has had five hospitalisations from venomous snake bites over the course of his 40-year career and Dr Zdenek has been bitten once.<\/p>\n

“We don’t brag about the fact that we’ve been bitten,” Dr Zdenek said.<\/p>\n

“We obviously don’t want to, and we’ll try to prevent it as much as we can.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

The death adder is one of the venomous snakes used in the training course. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

Sharing those experiences, both the good and the bad, is an important part of the education offered to those who do the course.<\/p>\n

They’re also walked through some fundamentals of first aid in the event of a snake bite.<\/p>\n

\"Serious<\/p>\n

Dr Zdenek is a scientist whose spent years studying snakes. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n

“We’ve got the Royal Flying Doctor Service,” Dr Zdenek said.<\/p>\n

“So as long as you do that first aid \u2014 the stretchy elastic bandage, pressure immobilisation technique and stand still, don’t go crazy, keep that heart rate down \u2014 then you’ll be in good hands.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Zdenek cautions that not everyone is cut out to wrangle potentially deadly animals.<\/p>\n

But she argues in a country that is home to many of the world’s most venomous snakes, having basic snake safety information is a must.<\/p>\n

\"Smiling<\/p>\n

Dr Zdenek handles a Collett\u2019s brown snake as participants look on. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Stay still to stay safe. That is the saying that should be stuck in your mind,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dr Zdenek said.<\/p>\n

“If you encounter a snake, you just stop moving and you’re not going to scare that snake into a strike.”<\/p>\n

Watch ABC TV’s Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or on <\/strong>ABC iview<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Would you consider taking on venomous snake handling training if it meant you’d be safer around snakes?\u00a0 Queensland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[51524,51525,51519,51523,70,51521,51522,51517,51520,16,15,51518,51526,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-113972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-chris-hay","9":"tag-dr-christina-zdenek","10":"tag-eastern-brown-snake","11":"tag-queensland-snakes","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-snake-ecology","14":"tag-snake-experts-australia","15":"tag-snake-safety","16":"tag-taipan","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-venomous-snakes","20":"tag-what-to-do-if-a-snake-bites-you","21":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114533774557522367","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}