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General Climbing Discussion

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Babies at crags 7-Aug-2010 At 10:38:51 AM Butters81

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On 6/08/2010 TonyB wrote:
>Oz snakes have short, non hollow fangs, with the
>venom on the outside. Toddlers should always wear shoes, thick socks and
>jeans ... usually sufficient protection.

Incorrecto TonyB.
Oz snakes (Elapids) have a grooved fang, with the groove running so deep that the edges have met, thus forming a channel. All snakes can "dry bite", but you'd have to go out and buy a lottery ticket if this happened to you. As an elapid strikes, the top of the jaw is pushes around the tooth, thus injecting venom into the channel, and then into the victim.
They do have short teeth however! (approx 3mm for eastern browns)
So if you can dress your child in clothing more than 3mm thick, which is uncompressable, they might be snake proof!

And don't let the kids eat the mothballs!!