Contrary to some beliefs, Australia not only has
sharks and many wonderfully venomous
spiders, but it also many wonderfully venomous
snakes, most of which are
Elapids, including the
Coastal Taipan or
small scaled snake and the
Inland Taipan or
fierce snake, which has the deadliest bite in the world. The bite is
deadly, not just because of the the toxicity of the venom, but also because of the enormous amount it can inject in a rapid successive bites. There is another snake native to the lush
rainforests of North Eastern
New South Wales and
Queensland called the
Golden Crowned Snake which is much prettier and has less toxic venom. It is a
Colubrid, meaning its fangs are at the back of its throat and it rarely has a diameter of more than an inch so it is not considered very deadly. You would have to put your little finger down its throat to be poisoned, and its such a pretty little thing with its deep black body and the golden ring on its head that you'd much rather leave it to do its own thing. The
Australian Defence Force literature on the Golden Crowned Snake rates it as harmless.
Visitors to wild areas of Australia should be aware of snakes or travel with someone who is. It is also useful to be able to identify the snake if you get bitten so that doctors can use the right anti-venom.
It is also worth noting that, contrary to popular opinion in Great Britain Australia has almost as much cattle as sheep, with some cattle stations larger than Texas (the state in USA, not the town in Queensland), unlike New Zealand which has more sheep than humans.
Neither cattle nor sheep are native to Australia or New Zealand.
While visiting Australia, be mindful of drop bears, especially in the North.