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You don't know what "innate reflexes" are until you encounter one of these bastards, or a Tiger Snake (what we had in Tassie). Something significantly lower do

You don't know what "innate reflexes" are until you encounter one of these bastards, or a Tiger Snake (what we had in Tassie). Something significantly lower down the brain stem kicks in and you react before your conscious brain even realises what's going on. It's actually kinda fascinating to experience because you can tell our fear of snakes isn't something "learned"... It's baked into the hardware by evolution somewhere down in that pre-human part of the brain.

hilbert42 4y ago
You're right, our fear of snakes is baked in the hardware, I'm certain of that, it's an evolved recognition of danger that likely goes back millions of years. That's why my innate reflexes automatically kicked into action when I stood on the Eastern Brown. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life. I was 14 at the time so I was light, fit and agile. That said, my reaction time would likely have been slower than the snake if it had decided to strike. That was decades ago before decent antivenin and I was a reasonable distance from medical help and also I was by myself (trekking in the Blue Mountains by oneself at any age is stupid thing to do, so I was very lucky). With my snake encounter at Emmagen Creek things were a little different, I was older about 30 and I'd learned the worst thing to do was to startle the snake so one should keep perfectly still—and I did although it was difficult. I still wonder about that encounter, the snake definitely† wasn't there when I arrived at the Creek's bank so I was moving about and making noise. Most snakes I've encountered whilst bushwalking I've seen at a distance—2, 3 metres away—and they quickly scurry off but this one came awfully close whilst I was moving around and it showed no sign of aggression or seemingly any concern for my presence. † My grandmother came from outback NSW and was bush and snake wise so I was taught from a very early age to always keep an eye out for them whilst wandering through the bush and I did so at Emmagen Creek as I do when bushwalking anywhere. The fact is the snake arrived after me and I find that strange.
- llamaLord 4y ago
  I remember once as a kid I was in my room playing Xbox... Finished a mission in Halo and got up to walk out of my room only to be greeted by that lovely pitch-black, yet eerily shiney colour of a Tiger Snake just sitting in the doorway looking at me. I'm confident that, to this day, it's the most terror I've ever felt... Like you said, I just froze... Slowly walked backwards to give it space... Then it just turned around and fucked off back outside. Needless to say, I was very careful about keeping all doors to the house closed from that point forward.

hilbert42 4y ago

You're right, our fear of snakes is baked in the hardware, I'm certain of that, it's an evolved recognition of danger that likely goes back millions of years. That's why my innate reflexes automatically kicked into action when I stood on the Eastern Brown. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life. I was 14 at the time so I was light, fit and agile. That said, my reaction time would likely have been slower than the snake if it had decided to strike. That was decades ago before decent antivenin and I was a reasonable distance from medical help and also I was by myself (trekking in the Blue Mountains by oneself at any age is stupid thing to do, so I was very lucky). With my snake encounter at Emmagen Creek things were a little different, I was older about 30 and I'd learned the worst thing to do was to startle the snake so one should keep perfectly still—and I did although it was difficult. I still wonder about that encounter, the snake definitely† wasn't there when I arrived at the Creek's bank so I was moving about and making noise. Most snakes I've encountered whilst bushwalking I've seen at a distance—2, 3 metres away—and they quickly scurry off but this one came awfully close whilst I was moving around and it showed no sign of aggression or seemingly any concern for my presence. † My grandmother came from outback NSW and was bush and snake wise so I was taught from a very early age to always keep an eye out for them whilst wandering through the bush and I did so at Emmagen Creek as I do when bushwalking anywhere. The fact is the snake arrived after me and I find that strange.

llamaLord 4y ago
I remember once as a kid I was in my room playing Xbox... Finished a mission in Halo and got up to walk out of my room only to be greeted by that lovely pitch-black, yet eerily shiney colour of a Tiger Snake just sitting in the doorway looking at me. I'm confident that, to this day, it's the most terror I've ever felt... Like you said, I just froze... Slowly walked backwards to give it space... Then it just turned around and fucked off back outside. Needless to say, I was very careful about keeping all doors to the house closed from that point forward.