BRISBANE TIMES (Australia) 25 September 09 Twice bitten but definitely not shy - snake handlers in demand (Kelsey Munro)

Things you might not know about the red-bellied black snake: it's not deadly, except to small children; it can hold its breath under water for half an hour; if you tread on one, it will bite, and if you're unlucky enough to meet one, freeze and wait for it to move away.

That's the advice given by a professional herpetologist, Neville Burns, at a safety lecture for Integral Energy workers.

Mr Burns, 59, learnt the hard way: he lost his right index finger to a bite from a red-bellied black snake 30 years ago. He is allergic to anti-venom. Over "six weeks of agony" the venom ate through his finger joints and it had to be amputated. "It was a very rare case," he told the Integral workers.

He was also bitten once by a brown snake, and declared clinically dead three times while in a coma induced by the anti-venom.

There is a growing demand for snake safety and first aid lectures from companies whose employees work outside or in the bush - in mines, forestry, councils and utilities.

Australia has 19 of the world's 23 most venomous snakes, and the country's all-pervasive occupational health and safety regulations are stretching even to them.

It started with herpetologists being hired to remove snakes from mines, Mr Burns said.

''No one at Integral Energy has ever been bitten by a snake and we want to keep it that way," Integral Energy's general manager network operations, Drew Ferguson, said. "Our network covers the habitat of some of the world's most venomous snakes … We want our staff to know how snakes behave and what to do if they encounter one.''

The message is respect for snakes, not fear.

"Snakes have never had a very good public image, let's face it," said Mr Burns, who has had a lizard - the Burns Dragon - named after him in honour of his work with reptiles.

"If you want a villain for a story it's gotta be a snake in Australia because you don't have lions, tigers or grizzly bears."

In a special open-air enclosure at Integral's Hoxton Park depot recently, Mr Burns released an eastern brown snake from a long sack. It is the world's second most venomous snake, with "a don't-muck-around-with-me attitude", Mr Burns said.

Most deaths by snake bite in Australia are caused by eastern browns.

Mr Burns's personal occupational health and safety might suggest a new line of work. But the snake handler, who keeps about 40 venomous snakes at his Blue Mountains home, would not dream of it.

"I'm not a brave person but I'm not stupid either, there's a risk involved," he said. "But if I can save one life teaching people to avoid or fix snake bite, it's well worth it."
Twice bitten but definitely not shy

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• AUS Press: Twice bitten but not shy - W von Papineäu, Sun Oct 11 00:23:48 2009