Urban Reptile Removal

29/05/2026

The Mount Isa-based LifeFlight aeromedical team today airlifted an 18-year-old man to hospital after he was bitten by a snake.

The LifeFlight helicopter was tasked at 9.56am by Retrieval Services Queensland and landed on a private property in the Shire of Burketown, 300km north of Mount Isa on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The man’s family had driven him to a Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) clinic after a snake bit his lower leg.

He had visible signs of a snake bite and was treated by an RFDS doctor before LifeFlight arrived.

The patient was airlifted to LifeFlight’s Mount Isa base and road transported by QAS paramedics to Mount Isa Hospital.

The Mount Isa-based LifeFlight aeromedical team today airlifted an 18-year-old man to hospital after he was bitten by a snake.

07/05/2026

Happy Birthday to the one and only.... 100 today!!

04/05/2026

02/05/2026

For Decades Science Said the Komodo Dragon Killed With Bacteria-Laden Saliva. In 2009, Researchers Proved It Has Venom Glands. We Were Wrong for 70 Years.

The bacteria story was wrong. The venom was always there.

For most of the 20th century, the accepted explanation for why Komodo Dragon bites caused rapid deterioration and death in prey — even when the animal escaped — was bacterial. The dragon's saliva, it was claimed, harboured uniquely deadly bacteria from consuming rotting meat. Prey that escaped would die of sepsis within days while the dragon tracked it.

The story made sense. It was wrong.

In 2009, Bryan Fry at the University of Melbourne published research in PNAS demonstrating that Komodo Dragons possess venom glands between their teeth — glands that secrete anticoagulant proteins preventing blood clotting at the bite site. When a Komodo bites large prey, venom floods into the wound through grooves between the teeth, inhibiting coagulation and causing rapid blood pressure drop.

The bacteria contributed. The venom was doing the primary work. For 70 years we had the mechanism wrong.

The Komodo Dragon is the largest living lizard — up to 3 metres, 70 kg. It hunts Timor Deer, pigs, goats, and has attacked and occasionally killed humans. It has been doing this with venom that science didn't confirm until 2009.

We were watching the wrong thing the whole time.

18/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18jtJdyNmF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

03/04/2026

First day in a new house at Northmead and the dog earns his keep straight away.

Picked up on a snake inside while he was still working out where he was allowed to sit. Owners did the right thing and put him outside until we arrived.

Turned out to be a harmless green tree snake, so no risk to the dog or anyone in the house. Good outcome all round, and a decent start for the dog in his new place.

24/03/2026

24/03/2026

This juvenile Eastern brown snake was found deceased In Kellyville recently…it’s incredible to think that even a snake of this size has enough venom to kill several healthy adults.

24/03/2026

A stunning Diamond python from Lindfield yesterday