Lach gets bitten by Death Adder on Astronomy Road Trip

[gary]

Just talking to good friend Tony Buckley who along with Lachlan MacDonald
and our Texan friend, Anne Adkins, have returned from a 16,000km road trip
from Sydney to Arnhem Land and back via Cairns on the way up and returning
via Katherine, Kunnunurra, Halls Creek, the Tanami Track, Lake Eyre, William
Creek & Broken Hill.

As volunteers for the Three RIvers Foundation (3RF) they had taken up an 18" Obsession in
Lach's Landcruiser and joined with Ian MacClean to help show views
of the night sky to local communities present at the Garma festival for
aboriginal culture.

Tony reports that on the way out of the Bungle Bungles in WA, Lach had reported
being unwell including having nausea and other symptoms. They then passed through
Halls Creek and were on their way out to Wolf Creek when Lach continued to
be unwell, so they turned around back to Halls Creek. Reluctant at first
and saying he would probably feel better in the morning, Lach was eventually
persuaded to go to the hospital at Halls Creek where he was diagnosed as
having been bitten by a Death Adder. Sure enough, there were a couple of
puncture marks that had penetrated his Dunlop Volleys and he was apparently
unaware that he had been bitten. They had walked through spinifex and Lach
had probably gotten bitten then but possibly had thought it was just a spinifex
needle. Apparently the Death Adder can strike at lightning speed.

As some people have an allergic reaction to anti-venom, the hospital decided
not to administer it but to observe him. They drove slowly back to Sydney and
Lach was not in top form. Lach tells me that it may be four to six months
before he is fully back to health as the symptoms can linger for that long.
We wish Lach a speedy recovery.

Many of you will already know Lach and most of you who attended this year's South
Pacific Star Party probably were shown views through the 30" SDM by Lach.

Tony tells me up until that point, Lach would ask him why he would bother
putting on boots when they went bush walking.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Hope he gets well sooner than that, but now he should know better than to walk through the bush without boots on. You should always watch where you're walking when you're out in the bush. You never know what might be hiding in the grass and spinifex is legend for hiding all sorts of nasty critters, not just snakes. But snakes use it to hide in or take shelter during the day. If you see a snake, leave it alone and don't go near it. If you can't avoid it, back away. Don't go poking at it with a stick and don't go poking into spinifex or under rocks/logs with a stick. You're inviting trouble if you do.

[RobF (Rob)]

Terrible news Gary
Lachlan was incredibly accomodating at Wiruna and really made my stay with the views through his SDM. Hope he can get up to speed again soon rather than months, and thank goodness the death adder didn't succeed in taking him out - I believe they're one of the deadliest beasties on the planet venom-wise.....

[Jen]

wow i hope he gets better soon xo

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Very sad news. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

Dead Adders are one snake I don't like. Most snakes will tend to run .... ah slither away but adders have the reputation of staying. It's the only snake with which I've had a close call. I didn't realise that you may not feel the bite.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Yeah that was a bit of a surprise. Lucky he's young and tall/big build. His body can take on a little snake. Very potent venom apparently those death adders.

[gary]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

Very sad news. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

Dead Adders are one snake I don't like. Most snakes will tend to run .... ah slither away but adders have the reputation of staying. It's the only snake with which I've had a close call. I didn't realise that you may not feel the bite.

Hi David,

Thanks for everyone's well wishes and I know Lach would appreciate it.
He certainly is a very generous individual with his time on the observing field.

I know what you mean about them not slithering away in a hurry.
About two years back on an afternoon walk here in the neighbouring
Kuring-Gai Chase National Park I had one of those "whoa there!" moments
when I encountered one laying on the track a few steps in front of me.
The first momentary thought that goes through the brain is that it is
just a big chubby skink like a Blue Tongue. He took his time to move away.

I've been told that apparently they like to get in under Grass Trees (Xanthorrhoea).

A few years back the Hornsby Advocate ran a story, which I recollect was
about a golfer who had hit a ball into the rough at the local Asquith Golf Course.
He thought he must have trodden on a stick that whacked him on the side
of the leg and apparently didn't think too much about it. It was only later
after the round whilst in the shower he saw the puncture marks and began
to feel unwell and if my memory is correct I believe it was reported to have
been as a result of a Death Adder strike.

[DRCORTEX (Lance)]

Jeez,

Maybe I need to add full body armour to my list of required astronomy tools!

Ugly little so and so's!

Cheers
DOC

[GrahamL]

Wow thats lucky ,hope hes better soon .. the local snake guy does a lot of presentations through summer.. as I recall the adder is one that gets a lot of mention in bites , in that it has long fangs and dosn't often move so it gets stepped on quite a bit ?

[Kal (Andrew)]

Sorry to hear that about Lachlan, all the best for a speedy recovery.

One of the sports I occasionally compete in is rogaining where I spend 6-8 hours trudging through the bush. I'm thankful we don't have bears/tigers, wolves and whatnot in Australia, but we do have some of the deadliest snakes!

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by gary

I know what you mean about them not slithering away in a hurry.
About two years back on an afternoon walk here in the neighbouring
Kuring-Gai Chase National Park I had one of those "whoa there!" moments
when I encountered one laying on the track a few steps in front of me.
The first momentary thought that goes through the brain is that it is
just a big chubby skink like a Blue Tongue. He took his time to move away.

I nearly trod on one in Gibralter Ra NP (nth NSW) one summer night. I only had the tilly (kero) lantern on. I walked up the side of the car to put something away and somehow spotted the tail sticking out from under the car. When it eventually left it ran into our tent and half-circumnavigated it before disappearing into the bush. If the door had been open we would have had a snake in the tent. Thankfully the first rule of the tent is 'the door shall never be open unless someone is entering or leaving'.

[Ric]

I hope Lachlan gets well soon.

That is probably the only real thing that freaks me out about summer observing and imaging.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I'm going to miss your FB ramblings, so get well soon please.

[shelltree (Shelley)]

That's terrible news here's to a speedy recovery! I didn't realise it can stay in your system so long, that's really scary stuff!

I am terrified of snakes (I usually do the whole run away screaming like a girl/burst into tears thing) so I'm really hoping my backyard doesn't start harbouring some slithery creatures this summer. They seem to keep their distance though, we usually only get carpet snakes or green tree snakes.

I've only ever seen them when walking at Springbrook or Binna Burra and my boyfriend is continually reminding me not to freak out if I see a snake so I don't run away and end up over a cliff. Easier said than done though!

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Bummer and Best Wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thanks for sharing the information Gary! I may need to reconsider my footwear choices...