Another Successful Snake Awareness Session

Balanced with Wildlife presented a 4 hour Snake Awareness Session to staff at the District Council of Mallala today and it was a resounding success!! Julian Craig was the presenter at the session and the feedback is already back on how good the presentation was.

One attendee writes -

"Riveting experience. Julian was the best and most interesting course instructor we have had in the last 10 years. The subject was very pertinent to our rural area with snakes an issue we have to deal with in our everyday lives. SENSATIONAL! Thank you"

Just to prove that we are being impartial, here is the "worst" comment we received (and there were over 20 feedback forms received) -

"Top course. Not boring and learnt a lot. Very interesting"!!!!

Well done Julian - if the comment above is the "worst" we ever get, then we have nothing to worry about!!

Just another example of the level of professionalism you receive when Balanced with Wildlife conducts a course for you - if there is a chance that your staff could ever come into contact with a snake in their workplace contact us and we will be happy to provide you with training or awareness sessions that are second to none.

Check Out Living with Wildlife USA!!!!

After a heap of work and many - MANY - long hours, Living with Wildlife has finally launched it's USA website!!!

Check it out - there is a heap of information on snakes of the United States and a snake bite first aid sheet specific to the region can be downloaded free of charge.

An e-Book is soon to be released and you can even do an Online Snake Awareness course specific to snakes of the region.

While the e-Book is in the process of being published, you can buy the Online Snake Awareness course for a 60% reduction in price - you even get a Certificate of Completion at the end of it, so it is well worth considering doing the course before the price goes up if you have an interest in this subject and want to learn more about the behaviour of snakes from the USA.

An Indication Of The Size Of The Problem

Just have a read of this article to get an idea of the size of the problem of snake bite incidents in Nepal.

Conservatively estimated at 20,000 snake bites a year resulting in 1,000 deaths!!!!!

Can you imagine living somewhere where 20,000 people were bitten by snakes a year and 1,000 of these people died as a result?

I can't.

Snake Bites In Siraha District

I am just reading this article that discusses the number of people reportedly bitten by snakes in the Siraha district of Nepal - more than 300 per month!!!!

The article goes on to say that most victims tend to seek treatment from local shamans (a priest or "medicine man") and only go to hospitals as a last resort - often with fatal results.

Education and training is a part of the solution, but the question of how to provide it in an effective and ongoing manner has yet to be answered.

Graphic Examples From Cambodia

Later this year Living with Wildlife is hoping to receive funding so that presenters will be able to travel to Cambodia to teach people how to greatly reduce the chance of being bitten by snakes.

I have just been looking at some graphic examples of what snake bite has done to Cambodian victims (the examples are not pleasant, but have a look at them here, here and here.

If these types of injuries are to be reduced it is imperative that the Cambodian people be given the opportunity to receive the type of training that Living with Wildlife can offer.

Fingers crossed we receive the funding.

Three Deaths In One Article

Just received advice of three separate deaths by snake bite in Nepal - everything from a 22 month old child who was bitten while playing in his house to a 73 year old man who was bitten while sleeping in his cow shed!!!!

Have a read of the article - it defies belief reading this from the comfort of my quiet suburban home!!!!

Nepalese Snake Bite Death in India

I have just been reading this article where a Nepalese worker has died from a snake bite whilst working in paddy fields in the Punjab region of India.

Another sad example of death by snake bite to the people of Nepal.

Deaths By Snake Bite In Nepal Continue!!!

Just reading this article about another person who has died from a snake bite in Nepal.

It is not until you really start looking into something that you begin to understand the significance of the problem. Prior to being told about the number of people being bitten and killed by snakes throughout Nepal I had little to no understanding of the size of the problem - my eyes have certainly been opened now!!!

With all the international aid out there I find it incredulous that there is not someone (person or organisation) who has not taken up the cause to help the Nepalese people with this problem.

The philosophical side of me screams that if we still live in a world where you risk the chance of being bitten and killed by a snake while you simply sleep in your house then as a united global nation there must be a way that we can make this change.

Perhaps this is too much to ask - if so, how sad.

Another Death By Snake Bite In Nepal

I have just been reading this article about another Nepalese person who has died from a snake bite.

A 50 year old man has been bitten while asleep in his home and when he was taken to a hospital for treatment his relatives were advised that it would better to take him to another hospital but they could not do so due to "poor economic conditions" (which I assume meant they could not afford to).

It is when you read articles like this that you really appreciate how lucky our lives really are.

Another Successful Presentation

Julian Craig from Living with Wildlife conducted another successful presentation yesterday, this time for the students and staff at the Elizabeth Downs Primary School.

We received some wonderful feedback on the presentation that we would like to share -

"Thank you so much for coming to our school yesterday. The children just loved it and we (the staff) couldn't believe how well behaved they were.

Their attention span is usually very short and to listen for over an hour is quite an achievement!

Julian - I thought you were engaging and enthusiastic and pitched it just at the right level.

The staff were impressed with the questions that their children asked and all in all it was a great success.

Thank you again."

The most satisfying aspect of these presentations is that it gives Living with Wildlife the opportunity to teach children the truth about snakes and their behaviour and we hope that through this education the stigma associated with these fascinating creatures will be taken away.

Thanks go out to Elizabeth Downs Primary School for allowing us to present to their students and staff and if there are any other schools or youth groups interested in learning more about this fascinating topic just contact us and we will be happy to arrange a presentation.

More Successful Presentations

Living with Wildlife staff are just home from a very successful trip in Western Australia where they have conducted 2 day Working with Venomous Snakes - Remote Regions courses for staff of John Holland Tunneling in Karratha and then a second Remote Regions course, this time for a composite group of attendees including staff from the Department of Environment and Conservation WA, this time held in Kensington WA, a suburb of Perth.

The feedback already received is that the courses went very well - all attendees eagerly participated in all aspects of the course and negotiations are already underway with John Holland and DEC WA for further courses to be held in the near future.

Thanks go out to all attendees of these courses - Living with Wildlife staff can present anywhere anytime, but it is only through attendee's active participation on our courses do they then become a success.

Thanks also go out to our presenters - Julian Craig and a new member of the Living with Wildlife team - Roger Jackson who also owns Naturaliste Reptile Park in WA.

As always, the feedback received from attendees was that the presenters were fantastic and their presentation skills were of the highest quality.

Snake Bite Fatality in Nepal

I have just been reading this article where a 24 year old Nepalese woman has been bitten by a snake while asleep and has died on the way to hospital.

It appears that she has left behind a 5 year old child - how terrible to die in such a manner at such a young age and what sort of a life is in store for her orphaned child - very sad.

Another Successful Presentation

Julian Craig is back from conducting another Living with Wildlife presentation over the weekend, this time for the SA Ambulance Service in Whyalla.

The presentation was an absolute success with all participants getting a much better understanding of snakes and the way they act when confronted by humans.

Thank you to SA Ambulance Service for allowing Living with Wildlife the opportunity to give their members a better understanding of snakes and their behaviour.

If you are part of a recreational group, or perhaps you have staff that may come into contact with snakes as part of their duties, perhaps it is worth contacting Living With Wildlife to see if one of their presentations is worth attending.