The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

MeMock

Wallaby. Photo taken in the NW of West Aust.

MeMock

A WOMAN who survived an extraordinary crocodile attack has been killed by a snake.

Respected ecologist, feminist and renowned author Val Plumwood - who described her death roll with the giant saltie as "terror, terror, terror" - was found dead on her wilderness property.

The species of snake responsible for her death was still unknown last night.

Dr Plumwood, who was 67 when she died, was attacked by a crocodile while birdwatching from a canoe in Kakadu in 1985.

A territorial male charged the canoe, probably mistaking it for a rival.

Dr Plumwood shouted "go away" at the croc, lent up and clambered on to an overhanging tree branch.

The croc jumped up and wrenched her out of the tree.

The university academic said she thought she was going to die as the saltie went into a death roll with her clamped in its jaws.

But, for an unknown reason, the crocodile let go and Dr Plumwood found the water was shallow enough for her to stand up in.

She pulled herself back into the tree - but the croc again exploded out of the water and grabbed her.

And again it let her go.

Dr Plumwood sttaggered out of the water and crawled up a 2m mud bank, blood pouring from hideous wounds to her upper legs and pelvis.

She slithered down the bank twice before reaching the top.

Dr Plumwood dragged herself through the bush for a couple of hours.

It was dark before she was found by a rescue party.

"I was alive," she said. "Against all expectation, I was alive."

Even as Dr Plumwood was being driven to Royal Darwin Hospital, she begged her rescuers not to hunt down and kill the crocodile that nearly killed her.

She said the animal was only doing what it was genetically primed to do.

"As I began my 13-hour journey to Darwin, my rescuers discussed going upriver the next day to shoot a crocodile," she said.

"I spoke strongly against this plan.

"I was the intruder - and no good purpose could be served by random revenge."

Dr Plumwood is believed to have died at her bush retreat near Canberra on Thursday. Her body was discovered on Saturday.

__________________
News is what someone, somewhere is trying to suppress - everything else is just advertising.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

November Rain

Does anyone know of a website where you can enter details of a snake & get an idea what it was? The ones I've checked out have great long lists, but I've got no idea what subspecies to look under - all I know is it wasn't a cobra or a python. Had one in my garden yesterday, about 2m long, grey banded body & yellowish face with 'sunburst' markings radiating from the eyes. Got some pics, but not really good enough to identify it with. Anywhere I can go & check? Cheers.

__________________
It is far easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.

bkkmadness

Have a look through this site NR, might help you it covers a fair amount of Thailand's snakes.

Snakes common

JoGeAr

Hope it wasn't one of these. Nasty.

Snakes of Southeast Asia : Amphibious Sea Snake - Laticauda colubrina

Scroll through it the site. You may recognise the culprit.

November Rain

Thanks guys, but, nope can't find him. None of the pics are good enough to post, but I was wrong about him being banded - the stripes on his body were horizontal. Can't find him on those sites. He seemed placid enough - just looked at me & when I didn't try to hurt him, eventually slithered away.

mrsquirrel

I used to be mates with a fella called Sky from Jamaica or Monserat . Lived down in Leicster. Would go to visit him and have to sit around his apartment with his two sodding massive pythons slithering about.

Used to batter my head.

Marmite the Dog

I used to have a nutter of a gf who had a royal python (amongst other exotica). It was probably the most boring pet in the world, as it never actually did anything. It may as well have been dead.

Eliminator

I have 4 cobra skins in my freezer, still can't find anywhere to get them tanned.

Whiteshiva

I get these in my garden from time to time - always on the run. Have explained to my boys that they are not to be messed with. I don't want to kill them, but I have tried to fill in holes and cracks in the perimeter wall, where I suspect they seek refuge. Been about 6 months since I last saw one - which doesn't mean squat, since they are difficult to spot even on a sunny day.

Also get the odd tree snake, which I think is a very cool and beautiful species.

__________________
Any error in tact, fact or spelling is purely due to transmissional errors...

good2bhappy

Very nasty
Cobra?

Whiteshiva

Very cute - yes, cobra. Completely harmless if you leave it alone. Keeps rats and frogs away, too.

Texpat

My little patch of heaven is no more ...



About 5:00 p.m. today as my wife was getting ready to go to market on her putt-putt, our dog Yako chased a snake up a tree. My wife yelled for me to come quickly, there was a big snake.

I shrieked like a schoolgirl, jumped up on a chair and wet my pants. After a few deep breaths, and a trip to the toolshed for a long-handled spade, I chased the fcuker out of a tree. It slithered into a drainage pipe directly under where my neighbor is standing in the photo.

I told my wife to watch for it to come out one end as I rattled a length of bamboo in the other. She wanted no part of that and ran for the neighbor for help. We finally scared it enough that it did a runner (is that possible?) out the neighbor's end and he clubbed it good.

He said it wasn't poisonous and if I didn't want it, he could trade it for a bottle of lao khao. I certainly didn't want it and wonder if I'll ever walk barefoot through my lawn again.

Scooter

Had this coming over the wall into my garden about an hour ago.
Quite safe its a Painted Bronzeback. A tree viper.
I took the photo hanging out of the window as they freak me out still.

jandajoy

Hmmm. We had a lot of snakes on the Cape in Far northern Queensland. I taught in Kurranda ( see previous post) and we also had loads in various remote communities in the NT. One thing I learnt was NOT to chase, attack or antagonise the bastards. Kepp an eye on them but leave them be. Eventually they'll clear off. If, as I've experienced, you've got a King brown in the girls toilets and 30 primary school girls dying for a piss, get an expert to remove it. Attacking it with a spade can lead to disastrous results.
Just a bit of advice from some one who's made the mistakes.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Whiteshiva

^You got bitten in the tongue?

Chong Boy

Not sure if this is true or coincidence but a friend in the village had snakes come every few days but we never got any pics.
He hated them and he heard that they are scared of geese so he bought a couple of geese, then had one snake 2 days later and none since then! 6 weeks later and snake free now.

I read on google that goose shit burns snakes skin if they come in contact with it so maybe works

Only down side is he has to hose down his drive 3 times a day, you wouldn't believe how much shit can come from 2 birds!

November Rain

No pics. Both my camera & mobile phone are on the blink.

One of my paraplegic dogs (all 6 sleep outside in cages) was barking last night. Yelled at her to shut up & eventually she did.

Went to change their bedding this morning & in the cage of the newest & smallest of them were two very large chunks of shed snakeskin. I reckon I could have fit my forearm inside them easily - perhaps even my upper arm. Near another cage was another chunk. From the size & colour of the skin, I reckon it was a python. My poor, wee dog spent some of last night with a fecking huge snake in her cage with her!!!! Luckily she was completely untouched and seemed fine. Think it must have been using the bars of her cage to slough off the skin. Eeeeuurrrggh!

ChiangMai noon

snake slithered past me yesterday, right down the middle of the road, around 2 and a half metres in length, by far the biggest i have seen here so far.

not sure what it was, but didn't look like anything poisonous, quite a flat shaped snout, brownish markings.

bkkmadness

Your dog was lucky, as I recall after a skin shed snakes are very hungry and ready to feed.