Eastern brown attack leaves Hervey Bay child in hospital

Two children have been taken to hospital as the Wide Bay Burnett’s summer of snake bites continues, including one young victim who encountered the country’s second most venomous species.

A teenager has survived two bites from an eastern brown snake which Hervey Bay snake catcher Clinton Jones, who posted about it on his Jonesy the Snake Catcher Facebook page with a picture of the reptile (left), said had become stuck in "one of those sticky traps".

Regional Queensland’s summer of snakes continues with two children hospitalised across the Wide Bay after run-ins with the reptiles, including one youth’s extraordinary encounter with an eastern brown at the Fraser Coast.

The teenage boy was hospitalised after being bitten twice by the reptile, which is the second most venomous in the world, at his family’s Toogoom home on Friday.

A Facebook post made that night by snake handler Clinton Jones, who runs Jonesy the Snake Catcher Hervey Bay and caught the reptile, said the teenager learned a “hard lesson”.

Mr Jones said in the post the boy found the snake “stuck in one of those sticky traps” and, believing it to be non-venomous, tried to free it.

The snake then bit the boy on the hand and wrist twice.

“Not a good one to confuse unfortunately,” Mr Jones said in the post.

“The kid is in hospital and definitely not feeling very well but he should recover due to quick thinking and calling ambulance.”

A young boy has survived two bites from an eastern brown snake which Hervey Bay snake catcher Clinton Jones, who posted about it on his Jonesy the Snake Catcher Facebook page, said had become stuck in "one of those sticky traps". Picture: Facebook

Mr Jones said he became involved when he saw a social media post asking if anyone could identify the snake.

“As soon as I’ve seen it my heart dropped,” he said.

The snake, which he estimated to be about 1m in length, would have been “super nervous, super skittish” at its age and the teen was “very lucky”.

Then shortly after 6pm Sunday, two days after the teen’s run-in, a young girl was bitten on her leg while at home at The Dawn, near Gympie.

She was taken to Gympie Hospital in a stable condition.

These bites have been the latest in a string of run-ins with the reptiles across the region that have left a number of residents in hospitals this summer, including bites at Mundubbera, Wooroonden and K’gari.

Mr Jones said about 3000-odd snake bites were reported across the country every year with, on average, only four deaths happening as a result.

However, those 3000 bites could be cut down significantly.

“A large number of those bites can be prevented by people simply leaving the snake alone,” Mr Jones said.

Instead people were “putting themselves in danger”, as snakes did not always look the same and even eastern browns could be a different colour to their namesake.

“You’re better off calling a snake catcher,” he said.