The eastern brown snake is the species responsible for most deaths caused by snakebite in Australia, although, with the advent of efficient first-aid treatment and antivenom, there are now usually only one or two deaths per year. A large adult brown snake is a formidable creature. They may exceed two metres in length and, on hot days, can move at surprising speed. It has a slender body and is variable in colour ranging from uniform tan to grey or dark brown. The belly is cream, yellow or pale orange with darker orange spots.
And I got to stick my camera in a brown snake's face today. Huuuhhh-zzzah!
One good way to identify the eastern brown:
When attacking, the brown snake winds its body into an 'S' shape, raising itself off the ground.
One not great pic. (This snake was scary fast.)
And a video. Stop it at the 22-second mark, and you can see the snake rise up into the distinctive brown snake "S" shape. (And you can hear Christine in the background say, in a way that means oh so much more than you know, "I think it's a brown snake Thom." She said that several more times in the few minutes I was with that snake.)
