From the Aussie Pythons and Snakes website, where "Straddle Ranger" posted this comment:
I am the one who found the snake. I manage all the Campgrounds on South Stradbroke Island off the coast of the Gold Coast and arranged for it to be transported to the mainland by the Coast Guard, and for the RSPCA animal ambulance to transport it to Curumbin Wildlife Hospital. The poor snake was in an awful way, and it looked like he/she was slithering around blind. We could not do anything else but help the poor thing. Of course we have had the horrible comments that a shovel would have been the best thing for it, because to some people if it is not covered in fur, and in their opinion warm and fuzzy, it does not deserve help. Fortunately we don't all feel that way about our scaly friends, and I'd rather this little fellow, than an epidemic of the rat & mouse population. I have spoken to the hospital, and they are doing blood work, to see if there is any other underlying conditions. Apparently there was a combination of paralysis ticks and brown bush ticks and there were well over 100 of them.If you really want to see a photo of the myriad of removed ticks in an emesis basin, click here. Followup: the snake is now in foster care and will be released back into the wild.
Fascinating. I for one did not know that ticks attacked non-mammalian species.
Via Reddit.
I'm really glad the snake was given a second chance.
ReplyDeleteWhen are conservationists going to learn the lesson they beat into everyone else: don't intervene with wildlife, don't mess up the ecosystem by deciding what's best for it, and let nature do its thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's managed just fine for a billion years without your assistance.
I understand you point, but if you saw a dog peppered with porcupine quills or cholla cactus spines, would you not try to help it?
DeleteHuman empathy is natural too.
DeleteOn the other hand, Aussies have a vested interest in keeping their snakes alive so they can continue eating the invasive rats and mice messing up the ecosystem because they were accidentally transported by humans.
DeleteThanks for posting a sweet story :)
ReplyDeletePoor snakey -- I hope he gets better!
I, too, was really surprised that ticks would go for a cold-blooded animal. I'm not crazy about snakes, but I know they play an important part in nature. Just looking at all those ticks made my heart go out to the poor creature. I guess I really prefer any animal over an insect, excepting honey bees.
ReplyDelete... and butterflies...
DeleteAw poor snake, I'm glad it's going to be ok.
ReplyDeleteNot only do ticks feast upon the cold-blooded, they apparently transfer DNA between warm-blooded and cold-blooded critters.
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/01/how-a-quarter-of-the-cow-genome-came-from-snakes/
Think about that the next time you're removing ticks from yourself or the dog...
Amazing. I remember when I used to think I understood genetics. No more.
DeleteThanks, Jan.
Of course ticks aren't meant only for mammals, ticks affect also public money and our society :)) At least there are so many situations when ticks bankrupted public businesses like railways.
ReplyDeleteI shudder ever time I see this photo. There is also one that floats around the net wherein a dog's ear is covered in ticks. Must be so annoying for the animals, especially when it's an infestation of this magnitude.
ReplyDelete*shudders*
I had a friend who used to drop by for the two purposes: a cup of tea and to remove ticks from our resident python. He'd sit there with the snake cradled on his lap and take ticks off, then stroke it and say "Bye fella, see you next time" before letting it go. Then he'd come back to the house for a cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteIs your "resident python" posted somewhere in your Grange blog?
DeleteOn related news, the snake hoarder Dieter Zorn died on stage on Tuesday in France... bit by a snake.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.midilibre.fr/2013/06/18/herault-il-meurt-mordu-par-sa-vipere-en-plein-spectacle,718957.php
If you follow the story of this tick-laden python, it wasn't straight to happily-ever-after. Snake languished in rehab even after many ticks were removed so the vet took x-ray and found it had 3 fractures in its skull. Evidently he/she had been run over by a car and then slithered off in great pain to heal. Unable to feed, it gradually weakened and then ticks attacked. This snake just couldn't catch a break until this nice person happened along and took pity. I couldn't find an ultimate resolution to the tale but hopefully the snake pulled through and is back in the wild.
ReplyDelete