How sad for the Snake you said it was sunbaking right.
It probably got as much of a fright as you did.
I had a snake in my backyard yesterday but I did not go for the axe.
I went for my camera ....Snakes are protected species in Australia..
Its their back yard too.....MM.

HI MARGARET , SORRY MISTYMORN BUT I THINK I WOULD DO THE SAME AS MARGARET AS I DONT MIND THEM IN THE PADDOCKS AS THAT IS THEIR TERRITORY BUT WHEN THEY ARE CLOSE TO THE HOUSE (BUT I HAVE GRANDCHILDREN AROUND WHO LIVE IN TOWN AND DONT HAVE A LOT TO DO WITH SNAKES )WELL THAT IS MY TERRITORY , IF THEY ARE JUST PASSING THROUGH THATS FINE BUT IF THEY STOP FOR A SUNBAKE THEY GOTTA TAKE THEIR CHANCES, SORRY HOPE I DIDNT OFFEND ANYONE
LORRAINE

Well your message was very loud Lorraine lower case typing would have been fine. Whats wrong with walking away Snakes should be able to sunbake where they want. Actually they belong more on the land that we do after all we live in houses. Why are a lot of humans scared of snakes, I think they have it drilled into them from a early age.

Treat them with respect and when in the outdoors make a bit of noise when walking around, they will soon go on their merry way, I reckon more people are bitten by snakes because their pet dogs have had a go at them than any other reason....MM.

I agree with both arguements to a point when the snakes are hanging around the house then I am a killer of snakes I have pets as well as children in my yard but I leave them alone in the bush
Bev

We have carpet snakes here and whip snakes and green and brown tree snakes which are all harmless unless you are a bird or possum or small pet but I have to say the two brown snakes I have seen have been quite "up front" in their attitude (one actually coming towards the bobcat to see what was going on) If one was in the house I would not hesitate to remove it whatever it took. I have memories of summers spent on a farm in Melbourne where brown snakes were in plague nos. lying on the back door step and under tanks and ultimately hanging on fences. Im glad the only reptiles we have in increasing nos are geckos and carpet snakes and the goanna. Robyn

Most of the time we leave them alone but the small eastern brown snake in the house disappeared quickly. We have a few whip snakes, keelbacks and tree snakes around the house and they are fine if they stay outside. Carpet snakes are welcome and the red-belly blacks are ok as they are generally quiet if not threatened. Even though we don't see many browns I am very wary of them.

I am getting fairly good at identifying snakes now and try to teach the kids to identify (at a safe distance) and respect them.As long as I get a clear look at the head, I can generally tell if they are venomous.

Well thanks folks, I do appreciate all your comments. As far as I am concerned I did the right thing.
OK MISTYMORN, Yes he was sunbaking at first, but
when I came with my clothes trolley and nearer to the clothes line it decided to rear it's ugly head and showed me it's fangs. My first thoughts were that we were having a barbacue at the weekend, and visitors were coming from Ireland (where there are no snakes )Children would be running around the backyard as well as my little Jack Russell-fox terrior dog. Actually he was heading in the direction of the back verandah of my house so letting him go was not an option for me.
Another reason is I know of people in this area who have been bitten recently (not even realising that they had been bitten until they ended up in hospital) how could I relax knowing that it could be still hanging around.....
Coincidently, yesterday I had a contractor mowing our back paddock and he came across the same kind of snake but he said unfortunately it got away and into my neighbours place.He also told me that the brownsnake can be rather aggressive, say no more, end of story. I don't like snakes of any kind....
Cheers, Margaret.

Another reason not to move to Aussie, I shudder to even look at the snake pic.
Heather

all i'm going to say is snakes are protected fauna, so best not to bandy it about when you get rid of one even if it is in your house. for me unless they are in an area to pose a real danger i go have a cold drink and when i return they have gone and mostly never seen again.

if you live in snake territory then clean up around the house have no gardens rubble rocks whatever within about 10 meter of the home you will rarely see them then, also keep control of the rodents the most likely reason the snake was there.

there are snake catchers available if you have a messy yard with good hidding/food source habitat for them.

oh and thumping on the ground would have given the snake the message to move on! works everytime.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page