Australia

[arthwollipot]

As a side note, they've re-created this effect on a small scale in the Botanical Gardens in Canberra. Arthwollipot is probably a more recent visitor than I, and may have pics to share. (hint )

I'll make it my next project.

 

[Old Bob]

Australian fokelore (can't guarantee this) Snake bitten, start the Holden and hold the spark plug leads in both hands. Toxin now destroyed, back to work. Bad luck if you have a deisel. New cars don't work with the differant systems.

 

[Sideroxylon]

Australian fokelore (can't guarantee this) Snake bitten, start the Holden and hold the spark plug leads in both hands. Toxin now destroyed, back to work. Bad luck if you have a deisel. New cars don't work with the differant systems.

More often than not encounters with snakes would be in places you would not take the Commodore so do you know if this would this still work on the Tojo?

 

[arthwollipot]

Sounds like a recipe for death by snakebite. Or electrocution.

Seriously, there's no way that holding the spark plug leads could possibly destroy a toxin in the bloodstream. Get thee to a hospital for an antivenin!

 

[Sideroxylon]

Sounds like a recipe for death by snakebite. Or electrocution.

Seriously, there's no way that holding the spark plug leads could possibly destroy a toxin in the bloodstream. Get thee to a hospital for an antivenin!

Absolutely. After applying a pressure bandage and immobilizing the limb.
http://www.medicineau.net.au/resources/handouts/Snake_bites.pdf

 

[Criticalist]

My recollection is that the most potent snake venom comes from the inland taipan, otherwise known as the Fierce Snake. However, despite its deadliness deaths from this snake are extremely rare, as its natural habitat is far inland away from humans. Most of the recorded bites are in snake handlers who have them in their collection. I treated one handler who had been bitten attempting to pick up the snake with a golf club.

 

[Akhenaten]

Australian fokelore (can't guarantee this). Snake bitten, start the Holden and hold the spark plug leads in both hands. Toxin now destroyed, back to work. Bad luck if you have a deisel. New cars don't work with the different systems.

Sounds like a recipe for death by snakebite. Or electrocution.

Seriously, there's no way that holding the spark plug leads could possibly destroy a toxin in the bloodstream. Get thee to a hospital for an antivenin!

I wonder what the guy who tested the first defribrillator was thinking just before he pressed the button.

Anyway, myth, folklore or whatever, some people seem to think there's something in it.

When no medical facilities nor antivenom are accessible, first aid electric shock has been touted as an acceptable alternative. However an adequate source and method of delivering the shock still remains a challenge.

That's from a web page called Electic Shock on Venomous Bites & Stings

I have no idea whether it's gobblydegook or not, but they seem serious about it. Cleverer people than me will tell us if it's all a crock of BS, but let's not get too derailed. There's almost enough on the web about this stuff that we could start a new thread about it.


Luckily, Pharaoh does not have this problem since snakes which attempt to bite him are instantly turned into sticks. I taught that trick to Aaron, Moshe's brother, many years ago, and he became pretty good with it.

Or as Cleopatra was once heard to ask of her i-Stela dealer, "Is there an asp for that?"


I'll just get my hat and coat . . .



ETA: When I started googling for this post I searched for "venom electricity". What an excelllent name for a band, IMO.

 

[arthwollipot]

I have no idea whether it's gobblydegook or not, but they seem serious about it. Cleverer people than me will tell us if it's all a crock of BS, but let's not get too derailed. There's almost enough on the web about this stuff that we could start a new thread about it.

I'm not claiming to be cleverer than you (how can I when you make the sun rise every morning?) but it's a crock of BS. There is no physical mechanism by which an electric shock can destroy a toxin in the bloodstream. The best it could possibly do is provide... well, no. There is no possible benefit to electroshock therapy for snakebite.

 

[Akhenaten]

I'm not claiming to be cleverer than you (how can I when you make the sun rise every morning?) but it's a crock of BS. There is no physical mechanism by which an electric shock can destroy a toxin in the bloodstream. The best it could possibly do is provide... well, no. There is no possible benefit to electroshock therapy for snakebite.

I'm happy to agree. So are E Ben Welch and BJ Gales from the Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, USA. ([email protected])

They have this to say in PubMed

During the past 2 decades, articles suggesting that stun guns be utilized to treat venomous bites and stings have appeared in both the lay and medical press. Although never widely considered to be standard therapy for venomous bites and stings, stun guns are still considered to be a treatment option by some medical practitioners and outdoor enthusiasts. A Medline search was performed using these terms: venomous bites, venomous stings, snake bites, spider bites, electrical, stun gun, high voltage electricity, low amperage electricity, direct current, and shock therapy. Articles selected included laboratory-based isolated venom studies, animal studies, and case reports involving humans in which a stun gun or some other source of high voltage, low amperage direct current electric shocks were used to treat actual or simulated venomous bites or stings. We concluded that the use of stun guns or other sources of high voltage, low amperage direct current electric shocks to treat venomous bites and stings is not supported by the literature.

My bolding.


eMedicineHealth.com has this to say.

A number of old first aid techniques have fallen out of favor. Medical research supports the following warnings:


◦Do NOT cut and suck. Cutting into the bite site can damage underlying organs, increase the risk of infection, and does not result in venom removal.


◦Do NOT use ice. Ice does not deactivate the venom and can cause frostbite.


◦Do NOT use electric shocks. The shocks are not effective and could cause burns or electrical problems to the heart.


◦Do NOT use alcohol. Alcohol may deaden the pain, but it also makes the local blood vessels bigger, which can increase venom absorption.


◦Do NOT use tourniquets or constriction bands. These have not been proven effective, may cause increased tissue damage, and could cost the victim a limb.

My bolding.


The Lancet has a couple of articles about this too, from 1986, but they want $50 each for the PDFs and I don't think this stuff needs such an expensive debunking.


In reading a few different items online, whilst I'm no closer to discovering where this "folk cure" started, I'd have to say that it probably wasn't Australia. It seems to have gained most traction in third world countries in Africa and Asia, where the cost of antivenom is prohibitive for most victims. Just the sort of situation where you'd expect a few scammers to be doing their thing.


Old Bob was just pullin' the hiss, I reckon.

 

[Old Bob]

Now the current topic (little pun) on snake bite. Yes the locals back then did believe the spark plug bit. One cold winter night about 1945 big ruckus in the chook house, Dad shoots a quoll (think that's spelt right) as it was killing chooks. Have never seen one since they are very rare, perhaps someone we know will provide a picture as he is very good at that. It was spotty black and white like a big cat from memory. Also in the dead of winter in north east Victoria a beautiful multi coloured bird would come down from the mountains into the sheltered vallies and I'm sorry I can't remember the name. Does any one know?( was it rainbow bird?) 1080 poisoning by the gov in the 50 ies wiped many creatures out and caused cancer in humans as it's made from sodium fluoride. (Bastards)

 

[lionking]

Google is your friend Bob:

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/quolls2004.html

Not that rare, and unlike many of your posts, I actually believe the first part of this post, but not the second.

 

[Old Bob]

Google is your friend Bob:

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/quolls2004.html

Not that rare, and unlike many of your posts, I actually believe the first part of this post, but not the second.

Lionking it matters not to me what you believe, I try to keep my posts free of lies. But you have found a good article on quolls. And as for disputing the 1080 program I was there and wittness the bush go quiet, they killed all mannor of creatures, even birds eating toxic maggots from dead rabbits with enough 1080 to kill them. Colourless odourless and tasteless, sent and sanctioned from Canberra by brainless shiney bums.

 

[Sideroxylon]

Google is your friend Bob:

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/quolls2004.html

Not that rare, and unlike many of your posts, I actually believe the first part of this post, but not the second.

I used to see a lot of them on sealed roads at night around the Top End - probably enjoying the warmth before inevitably becoming road kill.

 

[Akhenaten]

Now the current topic (little pun) on snake bite. Yes the locals back then did believe the spark plug bit. One cold winter night about 1945 big ruckus in the chook house, Dad shoots a quoll (think that's spelt right) as it was killing chooks. Have never seen one since they are very rare, perhaps someone we know will provide a picture as he is very good at that. It was spotty black and white like a big cat from memory. Also in the dead of winter in north east Victoria a beautiful multi coloured bird would come down from the mountains into the sheltered vallies and I'm sorry I can't remember the name. Does any one know?( was it rainbow bird?) 1080 poisoning by the gov in the 50 ies wiped many creatures out and caused cancer in humans as it's made from sodium fluoride. (Bastards)

These?

Rainbow Lorikeets

Photo ©Mike Owen - Birds of Australia
Map by Akhenaten

The Rainbow Lorikeet is widely distributed along the coastal strip from Cape York south to Victoria and into South Australia. It is often abundant from Sydney northwards, but is becoming rarer south of Sydney. An increasing population around Perth, in Western Australia, is thought to be derived from escaped aviary birds. The prefered habitat is coastal forests as well as urban gardens. Noisy flocks of up to several hundred may congregate in flowering trees to feed and roost, at times in the company of Scaly Breasted Lorikeets. Breeding in the wild is from August to January.

There are billions of these at my daughter's place in Toowoomba when the gum trees are flowering. Your description of their behaviour of moving from the mountains to the valleys according to the seasons agrees with what I've observed myself, not just with Mountain (Rainbow) Loris, but with the Currawongs as well.

I have some idea of what's causing this behaviour to change, but I think it's more to do with urbanisation than with poisoning. I'll expand on this in a later post.

That's not to say that I don't agree with you about the 1080. It did (does) a lot of damage to our wildlife. I'll address this in a later post as well.



Quolls

Google is your friend Bob:

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/quolls2004.html

Not that rare, and unlike many of your posts, I actually believe the first part of this post, but not the second.

Lionking it matters not to me what you believe, I try to keep my posts free of lies. But you have found a good article on quolls. And as for disputing the 1080 program I was there and wittness the bush go quiet, they killed all mannor of creatures, even birds eating toxic maggots from dead rabbits with enough 1080 to kill them. Colourless odourless and tasteless, sent and sanctioned from Canberra by brainless shiney bums.

What I really like about you two blokes is that you're usually both right, so it makes it easy for me to find the middle ground.

I'll get started on a post about Quolls right away, and we'll get to the 1080 after that.

Thanks for the link, lionking. I'm going to shamelessly use it in my own post.


Cheers,

Dave

 

[Akhenaten]

Now the current topic (little pun) on snake bite. Yes the locals back then did believe the spark plug bit.

I thought I vaguely remembered something about it myself when you first mentioned it. From what I've read, the idea seems to have spread at the same rate as cars did (starting in about the 1940s), and I think we might be able to attribute it to the willingness of people to believe all sorts of things about new technologies.

It reminds me of the way that some people today are using lasers to remove excess body hair and other people are using lasers to grow hair. One or both of those groups is going to be very disappointed.

Have you heard about the two blokes that were out back o' Bourke when one of them was bitten on the arse by a Taipan? His mate rang the Flying Doc on his mobile phone and asked what he should do. "You'll have to make an incision and suck out the poison." says the Doc.

"What'd he say?" asks the first bloke when the mate gets off the phone.

"Geez, I'm sorry mate, but yer gonna die."

 

[Jeff Corey]

If the Taipan had bit his crank it would have been no problem.

 

[Old Bob]

The beautifull birds that came down in the dead of winter wern't parrots, much bigger and were chasing the last quince on the old tree. Only seen them as a kid, later years no see. Bit like the "ball bearing bird" Will ask my mother she may remember. Where I am now the magpie greese are showing up, they are rarely seen this far south, rumor has it that they taste good?

 

[Akhenaten]

If the Taipan had bit his crank it would have been no problem.

Funny you should point that out. The joke is usually told that way but I tidied it up for JREF.

I wonder if this is the origin of the expression "Fair suck of the sav."

Anyway, your grubby little insult is duly noted. It'll be boomerangs at dawn if this keeps up.


Cheers Cobber

The beautiful birds that came down in the dead of winter wern't parrots, much bigger and were chasing the last quince on the old tree. Only seen them as a kid, later years no see. Bit like the "ball bearing bird" Will ask my mother she may remember. Where I am now the magpie greese are showing up, they are rarely seen this far south, rumor has it that they taste good?

The Rainbow Lorikeets was just a guess, and I wasn't too confident since I figured you'd have seen heaps of them. As a matter of fact, Rachel has emailed me some photos of her Grandfather's place at Hervey Bay, just up the road from you.

I have no idea what your birds might have been at this stage, but I've got lots of bird books here so I'll keep looking.

As to the Magpie Geese, your rumour is correct, but you'll need to go to the Northern Territory to try it for yourself.


learningspark.com.au

Indigenous people hunt Magpie Geese by various means: throwing sticks, from underwater using hollow reeds as snorkels or stalking and hand-catching. They are prized food and are usually roasted; the eggs are also eaten. Although protected from non-indigenous hunters in most of Australia, the Magpie Goose is a declared game species in the Northern Territory.

Smithy's Magpie Goose Stew

Ingredients

2 x magpie geese
Soy Sauce
Vinegar
1 Onion
2 Potatoes
2 Garlic cloves
2 knobs of Fresh Ginger

Method

Cut up as much meat as possible

Cut up geese into cubes and marinate it in soy sauce and vinegar for the minimum of two hours. (Magpie geese are tough and this helps tenderize the meat). Save the carcasses..

In camp oven throw in diced onion and potato, garlic, ginger and a cupful of water

Toss in marinated geese pieces
Cook on fire until meat and potatoes are cooked through

While stew is simmering and cooking. Place the two geese carcasses on a grill on the fire. These will cook before the stew and are a good snack when all crisp and crunchy

Serve with boiled rice

©ABC Online


Cheers,

Dave

 

[Akhenaten]

My recollection is that the most potent snake venom comes from the inland taipan, otherwise known as the Fierce Snake. However, despite its deadliness deaths from this snake are extremely rare, as its natural habitat is far inland away from humans. Most of the recorded bites are in snake handlers who have them in their collection. I treated one handler who had been bitten attempting to pick up the snake with a golf club.

Kewl. I was going to do Taipans and Tiger Snakes next.

I think I remember reading somewhere that Indian Taipans have the most potent venom, but I'll have to check. I'll bet that when I call the Snake Help Desk an Indian will answer and I'll have an irony attack.

oo-ah. I'm telling on me.


Welcome to the thread, Criticalist. It's name is Bruce and it's very friendly.


Cheers,

Dave

 

[Sideroxylon]

As to the Magpie Geese, your rumour is correct, but you'll need to go to the Northern Territory to try it for yourself.

I can confirm that the old magpie goose is pretty good roasted over hot coals. They seem to contain a lot of fat which drips through the grill into the fire for ages. They are rather tough eating though so the stew might be a great option. We went out with some police trackers once and they introduced us to the delicacies of the heart and windpipe. Great times!