A cyclist in her 60s is recovering after a two-meter eastern brown snake became entangled in her bicycle chain and bit her thigh on a popular regional trail in northern New South Wales.
The incident occurred around 1:00 p. m.
on Wednesday on the Northern Rivers Rail Trail near Burringbar in the Tweed Shire.
Paramedics transported the woman to Tweed Valley Hospital in stable condition, and she was discharged the following morning.
Snake Catcher Called to Extract Reptile
Snake catcher Sarah Mailey was called to perform a challenging extraction of the reptile from the bicycle.
“Its head wasn’t in the chain so it was free to be able to strike her leg,” Mailey said.
The cyclist escaped serious injury because she sustained a “dry bite,” meaning no venom entered her bloodstream.
However, the snake had to be euthanized due to injuries from the ordeal.
Mailey noted that snakes are frequently drawn to the underside of the concrete rail trail path during cooler months to find shelter and hunt rodents.
“In April, snakes start to look for where they’re going to spend their time and they move under there,” she said.
The snake’s reduced reflexes and partial blindness contributed to the unusual accident, as it was unable to see the bicycle approaching.
“Given that he was probably just sitting there not moving, it wouldn’t have been something that she would have spotted,” Mailey said.
The cyclist likely mistook the stationary reptile for a minor trail obstruction.
“She probably just thought it was a stick or a shadow and given that the snake’s blind in that eye, it’s obviously not seen the shadow coming towards it and given it enough time to move,” Mailey added.
Mailey explained that the season and the reptile’s physical limitations created a highly unusual situation.
“If it was any other time of year and the snake wasn’t blind, it would have had energy and seen her coming and got out of the way,” she said.
She added that such occurrences are rare but not completely unprecedented in the profession.
“So it’s just a mixture of the time of the year, it being a blind snake, and it’s just part of life, unfortunately,” Mailey said.
Mailey consulted an experienced colleague who confirmed having encountered similar bicycle entanglements previously.
“When it did happen, I actually rang one of my close friends that’s a snake catcher.
He’s been doing it for 31 years and I explained what had happened to him and he said, ‘I’ve had this happen a couple of times,’” she said.
Mailey also noted that people regularly misidentify these highly venomous snakes with harmless local species due to color variations.
“They often get misidentified with what would be a keelback snake, which is a totally harmless, non-venomous snake,” she said.
People frequently call professional catchers during the night out of mistaken fear.
“I get a lot of calls … thinking they’ve got an eastern brown in the house at night-time … we’ll find it’s just a brown tree snake because they’ve based it on colour,” Mailey said.
Eastern brown snakes exhibit diverse colorations, including red, silver, and jet black.
“I’ve caught every colour brown snake, I’ve caught a really red-coloured one, a silver one, [and] a jet black one that I could have mistook myself for a red [bellied black snake],” she said.
She emphasized that color alone is not a reliable indicator for identification.
“[Eastern brown snakes] definitely do come in all colours,” Mailey said.
Mailey urged cyclists and pedestrians to practice extreme patience and keep their distance if they spot a snake on the trail.
“If you can see it from afar, stop and just wait for it to move off the path,” she said.
If the snake remains stationary, she advised taking a wide path around it on foot.
“If it’s not moving off the path because it’s sunbaking and can’t see you, pop off your bike and try to walk the furthest way around it you possibly can,” Mailey said.
